Bird In A Cage
by Kittylin15
Summary: Sent along with the knights to heck out rumors of slavers at the border Merlin decides he can't just leave the citizens to their fate and gets captured himself in the process. An event from Merlin's child hood comes back to haunt him and his secrete is revealed. Will Arthur still try and save him?
1. Intro

I actually wrote this about three months ago. Got hired to illustrate a comic and I just finished it. I actually sat down and wrote the whole story in one sitting from front to back which I have never done with a story before. I just have to edit and extend some scenes and it should be done soon.

* * *

**Bird in a Cage**

_Intro_

**...o0o...**

Rumors had reached Camelot court about how Slavers had crossed the border and had been taking young people from some of the border villages. It wasn't an uncommon practice for this to happen because certain people were worth good money on the market.

Slavery was illegal in Camelot but not in a lot of the neighboring kingdoms. It wasn't unusual to see an auction or two on market day. A lot of the farmers and servants were bought and sold instead of hired and paid a small amount to cover for food and board. Since the kidnapping was only in the villages too close to the border you could guess the slavers weren't originally from Camelot.

Uther had sent his son to investigate this grievance that had been brought to his attention. Arthur had taken his most trusted knights and Merlin to investigate. They'd followed the trail left behind from one of the villages that had three young men taken. The tracks left by the cart led beyond the marker for the border.

"Dam they crossed the border back into Olaf's lands." Gwaine swore when he spotted the direction the trail had disappeared into.

"Should we still go get them?" Elyan asked not knowing if it was a good idea.

"I'm not allowed to cross any further unless I want to risk war." Arthur exclaimed in frustration. To come all this way only to be foiled at the first turn. They had signed a treaty with Olaf that stated no members of the royal family were allowed to enter without strict permission from the king. In return they got grain to help them last the long winter months.

"We should head back to Camelot and inform the king." Leon suggested so that Uther could organize an agreement with the other king.

"I agree." Lancelot nodded at the plan to turn back.

"I guess you are right. My father can write King Olaf a letter informing him of the situation." Arthur turned his horse around.

"We should stop to eat." Percival suggested, emphasizing his point with the loud gurgle of his stomach.

"No point." Merlin exclaimed with a shake of his head. "We're out of supplies." He turned the bag over to show there was nothing in it.

"That isn't possible. Let me see." Arthur cantered his horse over and grabbed the supply bag. Finding it to be so light it must only be filled with air.

"I warned you guys not to eat too much and make the supplies last longer, but no. No one ever listens to me." Merlin put his hands on his hips.

"I told you to pack for a two week long trip. You didn't pack enough." Arthur complained.

"Oh I packed plenty. If you guys weren't so gluttonous we would still have plenty of food left." Merlin crossed his arms over his chest defensively. "You took snack breaks at least twice a day and were too lazy to go hunting when we made camp to restock the supplies you ate."

"The main market of Mercia really isn't that far from the border." Percival commented. Since he wasn't originally from Camelot he was familiar with the area.

"You can't go. You are gather too much attention to yourself because of your size." Elyan pointed up at Percival.

Gwaine swung an arm around the manservant's shoulder. "Me and Merles here will go. We'll blend right in." The knight reached into his pack on his horse where he'd stuff some of his old clothes from before he came to Camelot. "I even brought a change of clothes."

"I don't know." Arthur stroked his chin in thought. The knight wasn't the most responsible. He knew he would never let anything happen to Merlin though. "Alright be quick about it." Arthur reluctantly agreed since he was so hungry. Handing over a bag of gold for them to buy some supplies. They were all starving and the closest forest was on the other side of the border anyway so they couldn't just catch something to eat.

Merlin looked in the bag to see how much money they had to spend and sighed. "Arthur you can't just give use a full bag of gold and expect us not to get asked question. Peasants do not just walk around with this type of currency."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Did it ever occur to you that I only carry gold on my person."

"Does anyone else have any silver or copper pieces? I'll give you gold for it." Merlin looked around at the other knights.

"I've got more reasonable money?" Lancelot volunteered his coin purse.

"What about gold isn't reasonable?" Arthur asked himself and received blank looks from the others.

...

After only a short walk once they crossed the border they reached the village that housed the market. Merlin would describe it more of a small city than a town or village. Wayland was booming with people from what he could see entering and exiting.

The guards at the entrance gave them suspicious looks but allowed them to enter with no problem.

Merlin had to drag Gwaine away from a tavern that was on the way. The knight mumbled "Just one drink" but the warlock wouldn't budge. The market was one of the biggest Merlin had ever seen. Many farmers and merchants travels far to trade here. Since Mercia was right on the border with Camelot it was a good trading hub.

He had some meals in mind that Merlin could make so he headed to stalls that had items he could use in them. He was trying to buy some bread and was shocked at the high price the man was trying to sell the item for.

"That is way overpriced!" Gwaine exclaimed with outrage. He was trying to take advantage of his friend. He lightly shoved the servant out of the way so that he could deal with the merchant himself.

Merlin was standing behind the knight while he tried to haggle with the merchant. He could hear a bunch of wagons rolling into the market. He expected to see more food arriving but when he turned he noticed they didn't hold food but people.

"Aw, Gwaine." Merlin tugged on the man's threadbare tunic to gain his attention.

When Gwaine saw what had gained the manservant's attention he grabbed Merlin by the arm and dragged him out of sight. He observed from the shadows the three cages led by 6 slavers at least. They outnumbered them two to one. More than that actually because Merlin was no use in a fight.

"We have to do something." Merlin demanded while tugging on the rouge knight's tunic. There was at least 20 people in residence of the cages. Merlin couldn't just leave them there to rot. He knew what it felt like to be one of them. The despair that takes over you thinking you'll never be free again. Not knowing if or when you would see your loved ones again.

"What we need to do is go back and collect the others. We can't do anything when it is just the two of us." Gwaine argued using his common sense for once.

"Ok." Merlin agreed since he knew the slavers would be there till morning. Forgetting about the bread they headed back to the others.

...

"Where's the food?" Percival asked as soon as they returned. His stomach felt like he was eating himself.

"We saw the slave traders in the market place." Merlin informed them slightly out of breath since they had rushed to make their way back.

"So they did cross the border." Arthur contemplated out loud. "I guess there is nothing else we can do then. Might as well head back to Camelot."

"What do you mean we're heading home? What about the slavers?" Merlin asked with his hand on his hips.

"We can't do anything now that they are on the other side of the border." Arthur replied calmly.

"They are right there!" Merlin pointed in the direction he'd just come from. "You aren't just going to let them get away are you?"

"Since they crossed the border the Slavers are King Olaf's problem." Arthur replied back.

"You are just going to leave the Camelot citizens in their hands." Merlin said with disappointment in his voice.

"I can't do anything for them right now." Arthur sighed. He didn't like the tone of voice Merlin was using. It sounded like he was disappointed in him not just the fact that they couldn't stop the slavers.

"Think about what's best for the people instead of the stupid treaties." Merlin spoke his mind forgetting about his station once again.

"We're heading back to Camelot in the morning. That's the end of it." Arthur said with conviction. He'd never seen Merlin this angry over something that didn't directly involve him before. Why did this matter so much to him?

Merlin stomped off to sulk.

The prince was going to go after him but Gwaine stopped him. Saying that Merlin needed some alone time.

.

Merlin stomped into a field to calm down. Flopped onto the ground with a sigh. He shouldn't have spoken to Arthur like that. Sometimes he forgot he was his master and not just his friend.

He pulled down his neckerchief so that he could get to the burn mark just bellow his collar bone. Merlin always wore high necked shirts to hide it. When he had managed to make his way back to Eldor as a child his mother had given him his first one to help hide it.

Many people thought it was a fashion statement but it really wasn't.

He remembered when he was a child**... **

**o0o**

_~ His mother was the closest thing the surrounding villages had to a doctor. _

_No one could really afford to pay her what she deserved for her services so she took what they could offer. It was never enough to actually support them, just a couple food items for her trouble so she still had to work the fields to make ends meat._

_Hunith had been called to one of the neighboring villages to help deliver a baby. She was told it may take a couple days so she decided she had to bring her son with her since she didn't have anyone she trusted enough to leave him with the certain talents he possessed._

_._

Radley _was situated in a wetlands area. It was surrounded by ponds with reeds surrounding it. There were a couple meadows to hence the name of the village that meant _meadow of reeds_._

_They arrived mid afternoon and were greeted warmly by the family. Merlin starred in fascination at how big the woman's stomach was. Since the women hadn't gone into labour yet all they could do was wait. Hunith checked the women over and concluded it could be any minute now._

_It didn't happen that evening though so they settled down for the night._

_In the morning Merlin went to explore the town. He tried to join some of the village children but they rejected him. Merlin had ran into the hut he had left his mother in. His eyes widened at the sight of the yelling women._

_Hunith had immediately tried to escort him out since this was not something a boy his age should witness. The pregnant woman she had been hired to look after had finally gone into labor. "Go play." She pushed him out the door and then locked it not wanting to be disturbed again._

_Merlin frowned at the closed door. He had tried to play with the other children but they wouldn't allow him. He was strange and mysterious to them. So he had made his way to a meadow to play alone._

_Looking around to make sure no one was looking he felt it was safe. _

_His mother had always warned him to never let anyone see him perform magic so he always made sure no one was around when he performed it. She told him to never perform magic, and Merlin took it as never do it when anyone else was around._

_Concentrating on his hands he conjured some fire. It was surprisingly cool to his touch. The destructive force was completely under his control and harmless to himself. Biting his lip in determination he managed to make the fire turn into the shape of a bird. He smiled to himself at his accomplishment. It was becoming easier to control his powers every day._

_What he didn't know was a villager had seen him._

_._

_Wilhelm had gone to the woods to collect some fire wood. _

_Catching sight of the small child alone he stopped in his tracks. It wasn't safe for children to wonder so far away from civilization. He was making his way over to herd the boy back towards the village when he saw what he was doing. Dropping his axe he ran back towards the village. _

_That was no child but a demon. _

_Immediately when he got back Wilhelm grabbed a horse and rode towards the town to get help._

…

_Merlin had wondered back towards the village once he had started to get hungry. He put a hand on his stomach when it let off a large growl in displeasure._

_A man on a horse rode back towards Radley followed by a large caravan. It was unusual to see these in villages this small. "There he is." The man pointed towards him. "That is the boy I saw performing magic."_

_Merlin's eyes widened at the accusation. It was true but he was still surprised. He had been so careful checking no one was watching him. _

_He tried to dash away just like his mother had taught him. She said if anyone ever discovers your powers you must run as fast and faraway as you can. But he hadn't gotten that far when one of the villagers had grabbed his arm and started to drag him towards where the caravan had been parked. _

_A large man climbed down from his seat in the carriage and stepped down to observe him closer. He had a hard look about him. There was a bad air that surrounded his person._

"_Demonic magic user. He's just a little kid Jagger." One of the other slavers scoffed at what they traveled so far to retrieve._

_"Age isn't everything. Whose boy is he?" Jaggar asked looking at the village occupants._

_"I think he came with that healer women. He doesn't belong in this village." A woman from the crowd answered._

_It wasn't until he was dragged closer that Merlin had realized that the caravan was actual a cage covered with fabric. It didn't hold food at all but other people that he could see peeking out with a look of despair on their faces. He gulped when he noticed the chains they sported._

_Jagger looked the little boy over as he struggled against his men's hold. He had this feeling there was a lot more to the boy than met the eye. Even if he didn't have any magic he could get something for him. "I'll take him." The man exclaimed. "Put him in with the others."_

_Merlin started to panic. His eyes flashed gold and the man trying to manhandle him into the caravan was blasted back away from him. _

_"Hold him down!" The bad man yelled at his minions. He retrieved something from the pocket of his coat. A one of his men pinned the boy he put the collar around his neck._

_Merlin went limp when he felt something cold snap around his neck. It felt like he had just stopped, like his blood had stopped flowing or something else. _

_He was thrown into the cage roughly. A man climbed in after him and attached at shackle to his ankle. He slammed the cage door on his way out. _

_._

_Hunith had just exited the hut after finishing performing the birth. It had gone very well considering her minor teachings from when she was a young women. She was wiping her hands on her apron to clean off. She was going to ask someone to point her towards the nearest river when she heard her son's voice._

_"Mother!" Merlin yelled using the bars to prop himself up as he grasped them in his hands._

_"Merlin!" Hunith yelled back in terror as she realized her son was in the caged carriage. She ran over and grabbed his hand that he had reached past the metal bars. "What is the meaning of this?" Hunith demanded._

_"Who are you?" Jagger asked the women._

_"I'm his mother and I demand you release him at once." Hunith hissed with conviction._

_"Well your son was caught performing magic." Jagger answered the reason for his imprisonment._

_"You will release him." Hunith pulled a dagger that she kept on herself for self-defence. _

_The man only laughed before holding her wrist making her drop the weapon. "You dare threaten me." pulling his hand back he slapped the women across the face hard enough to make her lose her footing and fall to the ground. Looking down at the fallen women in satisfaction. "Let's head out." Jagger turned around and climbed back up into the driver's seat. Snapping the reigns he set the carriage in motion._

_Hunith held her burning cheek as she watched the carriage disappear further away. The villagers gave her a wide berth as if she was some foreign creature that they didn't know what it was. Seeing no point in staying in this village a moment longer. Climbing to her feet she started to follow the path her son had been taken._

_If it was the last thing she did she would get her son back._

_..._

_Merlin huddled in a ball. He received sympathetic looks from the other occupants._

_The barred walls were drafty at this time of night. They didn't keep any heat in, he felt his teeth chattering. He huddled into a fetal position for warmth._

_._

_He snapped awake when the carriage stopped moving. The cage door was opened and a man came in with bowls full of food. Peaking at the contents he wrinkled his nose at the foul smell coming from it. Merlin felt his stomach turn._

_"You better eat up kid. That is all you will be getting to eat." The man exclaimed. Climbing back out and shut the door with a twang as the lock clicked. It seemed that the slavers had made camp for the night. _

_Just as everyone was starting to drift off they were all herded out of the cage attached to one long chain so that they couldn't easily run away from each other._

_"Stand in a line." They were instructed. Merlin tried to peek around the adults to see what was happening. The cry of pain scared him. He clutched to the robes of the man in front of him who turned and patted him on the head. "Don't worry the pain should only last a second." The man whispered to try and comfort Merlin which might've worked if there wasn't another cry of pain at that exact moment._

_Once he got to the front of the line he could clearly see the man with the hot poker. The bearded man that had comforted him only grimaced when the hot metal touched his skin and didn't make any sound. "You're next boy." The poker man indicated Merlin tried to back up but he just ended up running into another slave behind him. He was pulled forward by his wrist._

_Pulling a hot poker from the fire._

_Merlin had to be held in place. He struggled in the man's grip to get away from the hot poker. "Hold still boy. You don't want me to miss and have to do it twice." Merlin froze at hearing that and the man took the chance while he was quite. Placing the hot poker right below his clavicle he burned the S into his skin to mark him as a slave._

_Merlin cried out in pain. It only lasted a couple seconds but it was still too long a time. He was brought back to the carriage to sleep off the pain._

_._

_When he gained consciousness again the carriage was moving again. _

_Merlin looked around trying to figure out where they were. He could tell from the colours of the flags on buildings they had passed that they had left Cendred's kingdom. The red flags waved in the wind._

_He frowned when he saw the bruise on the cheek of the women across from him._

_The man from before was walking by the carriage._

_"What are you going to do to me?" Merlin called out to him._

_The bad man walked back over to stand by the side of the cage. "I'll be bringing you to Camelot. You should fetch a fair price there." He said contemplative._

_Merlin shuddered at the name. The way his mother talked about Camelot made it sound like a dangerous and scary place._

_"What's your name kid?" The bad man asked curiously._

_"Merlin." He sniffled._

_"Named after a falcon are you. Little birdie." The bad man smirked as he looked down on him. "You're caged now with nowhere to fly." He laughed then walked away._

_Merlin rested his head against the cold metal. He knew he had to get away. _

_His mother had mentioned once that Camelot was a three day ride from Eldor. They had been a little further than that. This is the second night they had stopped so it seemed he was running out of time. If they got him to Camelot he would be killed for sure._

_How could he possibly escape without the help of his magic? It was a hopeless situation._

_..._

_The next night when they had stopped to set up camp. Camelot knights swarmed the slavers in the middle of the night. Horses surrounded the carriage and blocked every exit._

_Merlin shrunk back from the red cloaks marking these men as Knights of Camelot._

_"Surrender." Once of the knights called._

_"Slaving is banned in the Kingdom of Camelot." What was the head knight announced as his men arrested what slavers they could catch._

_The trading of human life's for money was against the law in the Kingdom of Camelot. Bounty hunting was a different matter. Anyone who was wanted by the crown was an exempt from this law since they did something to deserve it. Anyone who performed magic automatically fell into this category._

_In self-defence the slavers pulled out their own swords against the knights. Swords clashed all around. The slavers that still could fled their cargo in self-preservation knowing they were no match against the highly trained knights. Not willing to risk their lives for money since if they were dead they couldn't spend it. They could always collect more but they wouldn't be able to if they were imprisoned. _

_"You've escaped this time Little Birdie." Jagger exclaimed as he two abandoned them._

_A knight cut the chain connecting the slaves to the carriage._

_In all the excitement Merlin took the chance to slip away. Once he got to the safety of the tree line he peaked through the bushes as the knights rounded up the slaves. Taking their statements; he hoped that all of them were returned to their homes. _

_Merlin couldn't risk trusting his safe return to the knights. Jagger had not been quite about why Merlin had been taken or why they were headed into Camelot. If one of the other slaves revealed he had magic the Camelot knights would turn on him in a second._

_It was ironic how he was saved by the same people who would prosecute him if they knew what he was._

_._

_He followed the tracks left by the carriage back the way they had come. Merlin could only hope that he could find his way back home to Eldor. Back to his mother. He missed her desperately._

_The trek was exhausting him. He felt tired and hungry. It seemed impossible to get back. It was too far. He collapsed to the side of the road once night hit again. His stomach was growling at him and he only managed to find some berries to settle it._

_The next morning he set out once more. _

_._

_He froze when he noticed someone else coming towards him. They were silhouetted by the light of the sun so he couldn't tell if it was a man or a women. Shielding his eyes from the sun he squinted at the approaching figure. He recognized the persons walking pattern._

_"Mother!" Merlin yelled running full speed towards her. She threw her arms around him._

_"Thank god." Hunith cried as she held her son. Her worst fears had come true when she had seen him in that bounty hunters cage. "I thought I would never see you again." She rested her head on his and ran her fingers through his hair._

_"I hope you learnt your lesson." Hunith berated him as they walked home holding hands._

_"I have." Merlin replied; at that moment he actually meant it but it was too bad he was too young at the time to truly remember his conviction. ~_

**o0o**

**...TBC**


	2. Caged

It took a little longer to update than I predicted because I just didn't feel like writing. The next chapter should be up soon.

* * *

**Bird in a Cage**

**...**

When the moon was high in the sky Merlin sat up from his bed roll.

With the pretence of getting up to stroke the fire he observed if everyone was asleep. Merlin nodded to himself in contentment. Even Percival had nodded off since he was the one who was supposed to be on night watch. He took the chance to slip away without anyone's knowledge.

Sneaking out of camp he headed down the road back to Wayland.

When he reached the village Merlin cast a spell to distract the two guards as he entered the city. They didn't see him at all. He snuck down some alley ways and headed back towards where he last saw the wagons. He found them by the tavern he had to drag Gwaine away from earlier. The slavers must be staying the night there.

Checking no one was looking Merlin tried to sneak up to one of the cages. The only one who saw him coming were the occupants who he received curious glances from. Their eyes widened in shock when his eyes glowed gold when he whispered a spell that made the lock click open.

He received some scared looks for his use of magic. Merlin knew these were more than likely Camelot citizens but he had to risk it. Magic was a lot more excepted in the border of the kingdom than in the heart of the city because they were so far removed from it all. Most of these people had never even set eyes on their king and he was more of a mythical power than an actual person to them.

Swinging open the metal door the hinges squeaked. "You need to get as far away from here as possible. Go home." The unsure looks changed to gratitude when they realized he was breaking them out. One by one they climbed out and made their way into the dark allies to wait till morning when they could slip out of the Wayland unnoticed by the guards in the crowds.

There were three caravans. He had a similar success with the next one. Looking towards the tavern he didn't see anyone exiting. One more caravan Merlin thought to himself. This was going down a lot smoother than he thought.

Whispering a spell the door clicked open. Then Merlin felt something hard thump into his head and everything went dark.

o0o

The early morning sunlight streamed down on the clearing.

Percival jerked awake realizing he had fallen asleep. 'It was morning already, dam. He was supposed to be keeping watch.' Percival berated himself. Looking around at his sleeping companions he sighed in relief. At least nothing went wrong. One by one he shook the other knights awake.

Gwaine grumbled, rolled over in his bed rolled and covered his head with his blanket to block out the light.

Arthur climbed from his bed roll and stretched. Noticing Gwaine's unmoving form he lightly kicked him in the side. "Get up." He demanded as the other knight groaned and sat up.

"That was totally uncalled for." Gwaine complained, glaring at the prince and rubbed his side.

"If you would have just gotten up I wouldn't have to use force." Arthur replied. He started to put get dressed and observed his slow moving knights. "Come on men. We must be heading back to Camelot." The prince said to encourage them to get moving.

"Where's Merlin?" Lancelot asked when he was more awake. The manservant was usually the first one up but he wasn't usually far from camp. The fire had burned down to coals which was unusual. It was the servants job to keep it going.

"Merlin!" Arthur bellowed. He frowned when he received no response. "Merlin!." He called louder hoping his servant just didn't heard him the first time.

"His bedrolls cold." Elyan exclaimed, he had crouched down beside it to feel it with his finger tips. "Merlin must have been gone a while before we even got up."

"I'll go check the river." Lancelot volunteered. Strapping on his sword belt he moved towards the hills, on the other side was a small stream. When he got to the top he frowned when he didn't see any sight of the servant. Turning around he headed back to camp. "Not there."

"He wasn't in the field he went to sulk in yesterday either. I just checked." Leon exclaimed with confusion.

"Where did he go?" Arthur contemplated out loud.

"Oh no." Gwaine exclaimed with worry in his voice. "I think he went after the slavers by himself."

"Merlin's can be reckless but he's not that stupid." Elyan exclaimed from where he was packing his things.

"I beg to differ." Arthur grumbled. Packing up camp they quickly mounted and headed off towards the border. "I'm going to kill Merlin once I get my hands on him." Hopefully his manservant hadn't gotten himself in too much trouble.

.

Galloping on the main road they cantered to a stop when they ran into a large group of peasants who seemed to be fleeing to towards the border.

"What are you running from?" Leon asked the group.

Observing their knightly attire the peasants deemed it safe to answer them.

"We were taken by slavers and are returning home now." One man answered for the group.

"If I could be so bold, how did you escape?" Lancelot asked with a hidden reason.

"We had been left in the market unsupervised when a boy came up and released us from our cages." A young women answered.

"Let me guess, he was tall and lanky with black hair and a red neckerchief." Gwaine stated flatly already knowing the answer. The freed slaves nodded at his description.

"Merlin." Arthur mumbled to himself in exasperation. "Where is he then?" The prince asked looking at the group for his wayward manservant.

A young girl no more than 14 stepped forward."I think I saw one of the slavers knock him out while we were fleeing." She replied shyly in the presence of such intimidating men.

Arthur sighed. 'Only Merlin would get himself caught by slavers while trying to selflessly freeing their cargo. It didn't brood well for what they were going to do to him.' The prince thought to himself.

o0o

When Merlin woke up he was shackled and inside one of the cages himself. He sighed and hit his head on the bars a couple time berating himself. "Stupid, stupid, stupid." Look at the situation he had gotten himself into.

He should have convinced Lancelot to come with him to watch his back. He hadn't tried because Merlin thought the knight was so noble when it came to the rules.

Looking around Merlin realized no one was paying attention to him. His captors were eating breakfast and conversing amongst each other. He tired a spell to unlock his shackles when he felt like the power he had just released had been sucked like a vacuum. Looking around Merlin noticed something that had slipped his notice before.

Because of the great purge many slaver and bounty hunter caravans included magic suppressing ruins. He didn't think it was on purpose that he ended up in one that included these. His shackles were ruin free so he guessed they hadn't seen him perform magic to open the cages.

It was just his luck they hadn't upgraded their carts over the past 25 years.

"Your awake are you." A gravelly voice said in observation notices his movement. The slaver looked at the young man through the bars. The man took out a large ring of keys that jingled as he picked one to unlock the door. Once it clicked he swung the door open. Merlin observed the man warily. "You lost us a lot of stock boy." He growled.

Merlin closed his eyes and prepared to be hit but felt nothing. Looking of through his fingers he saw the man still just standing there with a dissatisfied expression.

"I'm not going to hit you boy." He growled. This didn't seem to fit with what Merlin had heard about slavers and what he experienced when he was younger. "We aren't stupid enough to follow that trend. We know that healthy slaves are worth a lot more than sick and injured ones." The man exclaimed like he had high morals; though he was a slaver so that didn't mean much.

"Rowan! " Someone yelled from within the camp.

"Coming!" The man yelled back impatiently. Apparently Rowan, turned and jumped out swinging the metal door closed behind him with a twang. "You'll suffer enough once we sell yah." He walked away leaving Merlin alone again.

o0o

They had Gwaine ask around the taverns while Arthur hid out in the forest so as not to be spotted.

"Apparently the slavers bought a room at The Cracked Hoof but they never actually ended up staying the night. They must be long gone by now." Gwaine revealed the information he had gained by flirting with one of the bar wrenches.

"So they left hours ago." Arthur sighed in dread. "We'll never catch up."

"Don't worry. I also got the information for where they're headed." Gwaine said to placate their worry for their companion.

"Really, that's great?" Lancelot smiled in relief. "Where are they going?"

"Apparently there is a market that deals solely in slaves. There is supposed to be a hug auction in only a day or two." Gwaine explained.

"Where exactly is this market?" Arthur asked, hoping the knight had more precise information.

"It's in Kelton. They have it at a sea port so that they can receive wares more easily from any where." Gwaine replied.

"That's where we need to go." Arthur nodded in understanding. It was a fare distance from Wayland to the channel from here. They had a long ride ahead of them. "Leon I think you should head back to Camelot to inform them we'll be a little longer than predicted."

"The king is not going to be happy about this." Leon said as he mounted his horse.

"We can't just leave Merlin." Arthur replied.

"Be safe." Leon exclaimed before cantering off back in the direction of Camelot.

"We can't just barge in there in our full knight get up though can we. It would cause a panic." Elyan pointed out.

"Already thought of that. I bought us disguises." Gwaine claimed as he pulled out a set of long cloaks to show them. They were all in non-descript browns and greens. "If we going wearing those red capes we'll stand out like a sore thumb."

"We'll leave our armor hidden here then." Arthur agreed with their assessment. If word reached the market that five knight's were riding towards Kelton the port would be cleared out before they arrived. Unclasping his red Camelot cape he let it drop to the ground. It took a while to removing all his armor without his servants help. Wrapping his armor in the cloak he tied it closed and slipped it into the hollow of a tree.

Grabbing one of the dark cloaks Arthur wrapped himself in a forest green one. He pulled the hood over his head to hide his identity just in case anyone knew what the prince of Camelot looked like.

"Don't we look like a seedy bunch." Gwaine exclaimed as he looked at their cloaked forms. He'd be suspicious if he saw them while traveling but where they were going they would fit right in.

"What about the horses. Aren't they a little high caliber for bandits, or whatever we are?" Elyan asked.

"Easily explained, we're horse thieves." Gwaine exclaimed with a smirk.

"Let's just get to Kelton and we'll deal with making up a back story on the way." Arthur snapped. He set his horse on a fast gallop and the knights followed in his wake.

...

Merlin woke up when someone banged on the bars of his caravan. It sounded like they had waved a sword over the bars. "Get up." A different voice from the night before demanded. So it wasn't Rowan, he wondered what this one's name was. The cage door was swung open and he was dragged out onto the grass covered ground.

The warlock observed his surroundings through his sluggish mind. They weren't in another market he observed. Though there were some huts nearby. Merlin was more dragged than led over to where a small group of slaves were gathered to wait in front of one of the huts he had spotted.

Once Merlin was in place the nameless man stalked off leaving him alone with his comrades.

It was the first time he had been able to interact with the other slaves. Since they had 3 caravans and less cargo Merlin had been placed in one by himself. He was receiving some vary and curious looks from some of the other slaves. The warlock tensed up when he remembered these people had seen him perform magic.

As far as he knew sorcery wasn't outlawed in Mercia. It was more revered. Magic users were sought out for the use of their powers. Many items had been designed to control them. Merlin would rather hide in the shadows than have his powers used against his will out in the open.

"Thanks for trying." A middle aged women patted his shoulder to show that she held no hard feelings against him for his gifts. "We will keep your secret." Merlin sighed in relief when he saw the small group all nod in agreement. If his powers came to light he would be sold to some lord who would use his powers for their own use or maybe even sold back to Camelot so that he could be executed.

Merlin then realized that these people had occupied that last cart. If only he had been a little faster maybe they would all be back home now. Maybe he could do something now. Now that he was out of the cage he should be able to escape. He just had to wait for a moment when he wasn't being watched so closely.

He whispered a spell and he felt the same sucking sensation just as strong as last time. Looking at the shackles he didn't see anything so he rolled them on his wrists and felt a rough patch against his skin. So the ruins were carved into the inside.

He was in more trouble than he thought.

.

Once he got to the front of the line and was led into what he discovered was a healers hut. It reminded him a little bit of Gaius' chambers back in Camelot. He missed his mentor dearly. It appeared every slave was examined to see if they were in good health and not sick or in bad physical shape.

When it was his turn a gruff looking healer beckoned Merlin forward. Other than grey hair this man didn't resemble Gaius at all. It looked like he had seen many battles in his younger days if the scars on his face and arms could tell his life story. The physician even had peg leg on his right side.

It made Merlin question if this man was even a healer at all but a bandit who got too old to plunder and picked up a new career to pay the bills.

"After the examination you'll be sorted to be sold in a certain sector." The bandit physician explained.

Merlin was sure he would just be sold as a servant. He wasn't strong enough to work the fields. A servant once more but this time he wouldn't be getting paid. It was bad enough before when he thought he was underpaid now he wouldn't get anything for his work at all.

"Stripe to only your breeches so that I can get a look at yah." The physician-bandit demanded him.

Self-consciously Merlin removed his coat then his neckerchief. He shivered at the cool air that nipped at his skin once he pulled his tunic over his head. He felt naked standing in the room being observed by the man as he circled him. Merlin guessed that was because he might as well be since he was more exposed than he was used to.

Merlin flinched when he was poked in the ribs. He crossed his hands over his chest as if to hide his body from the man's eyes. "I see this isn't the first time you have been captured?" The physician-bandit commented gesturing to the brand mark by his collar bone.

His body was checked over for other scars, the man took note of both the lighting strike from Nimueh on his chest and the serket sting on his back. Other than those his skin was flawless apparently.

The physician-bandit asked to see his teeth even. After the man weighed how many stones he weighed, and tested his muscle mass he marked him down for something on the sheet of parchment he had been making notes on.

Rowan from yesterday walked in to the examination room. He looked down a the parchment that was handed to him by the physician as he left to fetch the next patient."It'll be the brothel for you." He exclaimed with a slight smirk.

Merlin's eyes widened and his heart skipped a beat. "Pardon." He squeaked and his nails dug into his bare arms.

"You didn't expect us to sell you as a laborer did you. We'd get pennies for that." Rowan replied sarcastically at his surprise. "A boy like you would sell high end in that market." The man gestured to his colt like long legs.

"But I'm actually a servant, I have experience at that." Merlin blurted out to try and change their mind. They didn't have to know at how awful he was at it. He was the personal manservant of the crown prince of Camelot, that should mean something.

"You're too pretty to be sold as a mere servant." Rowan patted the boy on his cheek. "You'd be warming your masters bed before long anyways." The man shook his head at the silly suggestion.

"I have no experience with women. Sex or any of that." Merlin wasn't even able to mention the word without blushing deeply.

"A virgin then, even better." Rowan commented as he threw Merlin's clothes at him. Virgins sold for more money.

The warlock had to scramble to catch them. Merlin tugged his shirt back over his head thankful to be clothed once again.

"To the groomers then." The man looked over his dirty and mussed appearance. Merlin had been traveling the country side for a week without a proper bath before he had been captured. He was in a rough state.

Rowan pulled him towards a hut to the side. Pushing the curtain aside he was led into a room that had a lot of women.

Merlin turned his head embarrassed when he caught sight of a nude women getting water poured over her. So it was a bath house then. At least he would be clean he thought to himself trying to find the bright side in this. Merlin was beginning to offend even his own senses.

"What can I do for you?" One of the workers asked. Once again female but of the older persuasion and fully dressed.

"This one needs to be cleaned up from head to toe. Do everything." Rowan tightened his hand on Merlin's shoulder then pushed him towards the women before stalking out.

"Stripe him." The middle aged women commanded her younger workers. He tried to pull away from the many hands pulling at his clothes but the females were stronger than they looked. "Burn these rags." The women commanded as she looked at his thread bare clothes.

Once an item was removed it went directly into the lit hearth. The only item that was sparred were his boots and neckerchief.

Before Merlin knew it he was nude and being pushed onto a chair. A bucket of cold water was poured over his head. He gasped in shock. His feet were grabbed and scrubbed by one of the girls and his nails were cut. Some sweet smelling substance was rubbed into his hair. Another bucket- of warm water this time- was dumped over his head.

The bath part wasn't that bad. It was similar to what he did with Arthur but more public. After that though he was led to another area in the back. Then he knew what burning in hell felt like.

...

Merlin shifted uncomfortably in the new clothes they'd given him as he tried to sit down on the cot he'd been assigned for the had provided him with with a white shirt and leggings to wear. He wouldn't be surprised if it was supposed to support his virgin nature.

He'd been locked in a room with the other male slaves. It was filled with noises of deep breathing and loud snoring.

His groin area was burning like hell.

They called it proper body grooming but Merlin felt it was completely un-necessary. They'd removed all of his body hair except for the short mop they had left on his head. It was shorter than he ever liked to wear his hair because it made his ears stand out more. Merlin swore he had more body hair when he was twelve.

He couldn't believe that most women put themselves through that on purpose.

Tomorrow he was going up on the block. It would be amazing if he could get a wink of sleep that night.

**...TBC**


	3. Power Level

It took a little longer to get this chapter up to the standard I wanted. I decided this story will be only 5 chapters. I've been working on another story for Harry Potter about Draco getting a job at George's Joke shop.

* * *

**Bird in a Cage**

Power Level

**...**

Arthur hid behind his hood as he entered the auction area. He didn't stand out because many people were doing the same, not wanting to be seen at a slavery auction.

Slavery was big business in Mercia. He had heard rumors before about how Olaf didn't have servants but slaves; it seemed his whole kingdom followed in his footsteps.

The place was booming with many different slaver troops who had grouped together for their weekly auction of all their wares.

Asking around the crowds they eventually found the right stage. The description of a tall fair skinned young man with black hair received much attention. It appeared that Merlin was a rare find around these parts. Anyone who had seen him had immediately been able to point them in the right direction.

They received some looks of pity as they asked around for their missing companion. It wasn't uncommon for people to try and buy their loved ones back though they could never usually afford it.

.

A trumpet sounded announcing the auction would be starting. There was a large crowd that started to gather around a rickety wooden stage that was raised so everyone could see the stock being offered. They could see slaves being lined up to be ready to sell.

They decided to stand at the back so they could leave quickly if they had to. Arthur frowned at the people in the front row who were wearing finery only a true noble could afford. He found it sickening that people who could clearly afford to pay their help chose slaver instead.

As soon as they spotted Merlin lined up to the side they wanted to run and grab him.

Lancelot had to physically restrain both Arthur and Gwaine. "No buying Merlin is the best course of action." He knew it would cause too much of a scene. He doubted they would be able to just walk out of here with Merlin. Even though they were all great warriors he strongly doubted they would be able to successfully fight their way out of Kelton with Merlin in toe.

Arthur realized his folly once he'd calmed down. They had more than enough money to buy Merlin back making him legally theirs. Bringing him back home with no one here the wiser that he was the prince of Camelot. He didn't want any trouble with King Olaf.

Since the servants were next up on the block they didn't think they had long to wait. They all frowned when the auctioneer moved on and Merlin was still standing in the wings. "Next on the block we have sex slaves up for sale." The auctioneer announced. Many young women were led to the stag. Their eyes widened when Merlin was dragged up with them being the only male in the group.

The representatives for the brothels sat up straighter and observed the inventory available to them. Boys for the trade were a lot harder to come by than females so Merlin gained a lot of interest. The women who ran The Naughty Nymph widely at him making her interest known.

Once all of the girls were sold off it was Merlin's turn. He was forced to stand up on top of a box. Looking out at the unruly crowd he gulped in dread. Most of the auction participants did not look like someone he wanted to work for.

Arthur raised his hand when the auctioneer started to ask for money amounts people were willing to pay. He was uncomfortable with people thinking he wanted Merlin for- you know- that, even though he knew it wasn't true. The prince was surprised that he had so much competition for his useless manservant.

The bidding had started to rack up to a very large amount. It seemed like it was between the Prince and a women who ran The Naughty Nymph if the whispers around him were correct.

Merlin wasn't hard on the eyes but he wasn't that special looking. 'Was he?' Arthur asked himself as he observed Merlin in his new clothes. Out of the rags he usually wore his manservant's beauty could really shine.

Arthur's heart squeezed in dread when the price was above the amount he had on him. All the knights had given him every penny they had on them too. It hadn't been enough in the end. There was never the possibility n his mind that they would lose.

A man large man walked up to the auctioneer and whispered something in his ear and he nodded in understanding. The gavel thumped down on the podium with force.

It looked like a customer had sent a servant to bid and won Arthur thought with worry.

"Sorry but this slave has been removed from this block." The auctioneer-man announced. The bidders grumbled unhappily amongst each other at losing the chance to own the boy.

Merlin sighed in relief. He wasn't cut out to spend the next couple years of his life in a brothel. Suddenly heavy duty shackles were snapped onto his wrists. The large ruins carved into the metal jumped out at him. 'This wasn't good.' The warlock thought to himself.

"This auction will be put on hold, in a couple days he will be joining the sorcerer auction instead." The auctioneer announced.

Merlin's heart stopped when they announced that. How did they find out? The other slaves he came with promised not to tell anyone. 'At least Arthur wasn't here to see this.' Merlin thought to himself. He was led off the stage only to be met by a smirking man.

"Long time no see, Little Birdie. Though you've grown up a lot since last I saw yeah"

It had been over 15 years ago that he had seen the man last but he could still recognize him no matter how much he'd aged.

"What are you doing here Jagger?" Merlin queried with narrowed eyes.

"What do you think, it's a slave auction." Jagger answered with a shrug. "Couldn't let you get away this time though."

"What's in this for you?" Merlin asked.

"They promised I could have 30 percent of the price they get for you. A warlock sells for a high price here." Jagger replied with a sinister smirk.

Merlin frowned as he was dragged away.

.o.

Arthur froze when the man announced that they would be selling Merlin at a sorcerer auction. He must have heard wrong. 'That couldn't be true. Merlin wasn't a magic user.' The prince thought to himself as his manservant was led away in chains.

He turned on his heel and left the auction area. It felt like he couldn't breathe. Arthur needed t_o _get out of here.

"Arthur." Gwaine called. "Arthur!" He ran after the prince pushing his way through the crowd.

"Stop shouting my name." The prince snapped at the knight.

"What about Merlin?" Gwaine asked with true worry in his voice. Merlin had been his first real friend, he couldn't imagine leaving him to the horrible fate that awaited him. He hoped the new information didn't change the prince's opinion too much.

"I just need a chance to think." Arthur shrugged him off and went somewhere quite to contemplate what this truly meant. This was a huge revelation.

**o0o**

Merlin was once more led to one of the surrounding huts. He was provided with new clothes again. They were blue with magic symbols sewn into the fabric. They wanted him to wear the robes so there would be no mistake about what he was being sold for.

Instead of being led back to the small room with the other slaves he originally came with he was led to a more secure area. It was guarded by four sell-swords. He was pushed into a room that was similar in looks to the one before but had a completely different feel about it. There were ruins carved into the walls that made the air feel oppressive.

The suppression on his magic was so strong in here it felt like gravity was physically pushing down on him, making his knees want to buckle.

It was occupied by only three other people. Merlin always thought that most magic users when discovered were immediately brought to Uther so they could collect the bounty but apparently in Mercia they were worth more as slaves that could be controlled.

The guard pushed Merlin in and slammed the door shut behind him. He could hear multiple locks click into place.

-"I'm Faber." A man introduced himself and held out his hand. Merlin shook the hand nervously. "That's Bayn, and that young ladies name is Kayna."

"What's your name?" Kayna asked curiously.

"Oh, I'm Merlin." He introduced himself.

"I wish we could have met under better circumstances." Kayna added.

"Yes, this isn't exactly the best place to meet new people." Merlin nodded in understanding.

"I see you were going to be sold to the brothels." Bayn Commented on his white outfit.

"Yeah, I'm not sure if I'm in a better or worse situation." Merlin sighed shakily and sat down on one of the beds.

"It depends on what you see as degrading yourself. Having your body or your magic used against your will." Bayn replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Ones physical and one's mental." Merlin contemplated. "It's really a tossup."

"I'm sure being a kept sorcerer is far better than being a horror." Faber said with shrewdness. "It all depends on the master though I guess."

Kayna nodded in agreement. "I hear that some masters just want their crops to be blessed every once and a while."

Merlin just hoped he could stay under the radar. He could only hope to be so lucky to use his gifts to feed the hungry. He noticed some symbols painted onto Faber's skin. "Are you a druid?" Merlin was confused why the man hadn't realized he was Emrys already.

"No.' Faber laughed lightly at the question. "I went to druid camp to learn some healing magic though. They painted the symbol on me before I left. Have you met many druids before?"

"A few." Merlin replied thinking about his experience with Mordred and the cup of life. "I've never been good at healing magic." He said to change the subject.

"We all have our own talents." Faber replied with a polite grin.

"What kind of magic can you do?" Kayna asked curiously.

"All kinds." Merlin shrugged. "I don't really have a specialty. I just know I'm the weakest at healing. Doesn't mean I can't do it.

-"Where you from?" Bayn asked.

Merlin debated lying and just saying he was from Eldor which wasn't a complete lie. It wasn't home anymore. "Camelot." He received blank looks for his answer.

"You're crazy." Bayn accused him shaking his head.

"That I am." Merlin remembered fondly thinking about all the trouble he'd gotten into since he moved to Camelot.

"Do you have a death wish boy?" Faber asked like he was worried about his mental health.

"No, maybe." Merlin answered not sure how to answer. It was crazy logic to think he would be safest in the heart of the madness. "I work as the manservant of the crown prince of Camelot."

"You work for Uther Pendragon's son." Bayn gawked at him. "Why would you do that?"

"Arthur's really not that bad. He was a bit of a prat when I originally met him but I've slowly been reforming him." Merlin replied to their disbelief sarcastically.

-When Merlin tried to fall asleep, the thought about how he went through all that personal grooming for nothing bothered him.

o0o

Arthur finally returned to the camp they had set up on the outskirts of Kelton. The knights all stood up and waited for the prince to say something. He opened his mouth to announce his decision.

Gwaine cut him off. "Before you say anything against him I just want to announce, he will always still be Merlin to me. All powerful and all."

"I was actually going to say, Merlin having magic doesn't change how I feel about him." Arthur snapped at the knight.

"Oh good, because we all decided we would be saving Merlin with or without you." Gwaine replied adamantly.

"You're really just going to save Merlin no question asked?" Lancelot asked looking at the prince suspiciously. "I thought you would be mad."

"Oh I'm furious. Merlin lied to me for five years." Arthur exclaimed in agreement. "He'll have a lot of explaining to do when we get him back."

-"It's strange how magic is illegal yet we are all so ready to rescue Merlin knowing he processes Magic himself."

"I come from Western Isles where magic is legal and people who have the power are revered." Percival announce. "It just makes me respect Merlin more that he hadn't fled to there. It would make his life a lot easier."

-"Why would Merlin come to Camelot in the first place?" Arthur asked himself. It was suicidal to go to the heart of the hatred. It was suicidal.

-"I've known for years." Lancelot revealed. Since Merlin's secret was already out he didn't see the point in keeping quite any more.

"Merlin actually told you?" Arthur asked sharply. It was one thing not telling him but when Merlin told Lancelot it just rubbed him the wrong way.

"Not exactly." Lancelot shook his head. "Remember the griffin that was causing trouble when I first arrived in Camelot. Well it couldn't be killed without the help of magic. I guess he didn't think I'd notice a glowing lance." He shrugged at his friend's flawed logic.

"I guess Merlin isn't a better Sorcerer than he is a manservant." Arthur exclaimed.

"You're wrong." Lancelot said with conviction. "Merlin isn't even a Sorcerer but a warlock."

"What's the difference?" Percival asked curiously.

"Merlin was born with the ability to perform magic. He didn't have a choice if he wanted to pursue it or not. He has a natural ability for magic that most sorcerers are missing."

"I didn't know you could be born with magic." Elyan rubbed his chin in thought.

"It's possible but hardly heard of." Percival agreed. "Not even all Druids take naturally to magic. A lot of them have to work hard at it."

"Of course Merlin's special." Arthur grumbled.

"He wouldn't be our Merlin if he wasn't." Gwaine said with fondness. "Well just have to buy him back."

-"Problem, I don't think I have enough money on me to win a sorcerer at auction. I'll get outbid." Arthur exclaimed as he weighed his gold bag. It hadn't even been enough to buy him in a normal auction.

"Sorcerers really go for that much in these things?" Elyan asked in wonderment.

"Yes. Even the weaker ones. My father used to send people to these things but he realized it was too expensive. He couldn't afford to buy more than one and often got out bid, since he wasn't willing to spend a small fortune on one sorcerer." Arthur publicised what lengths the king used to go through.

"So we'll have to break Merlin out." Gwaine said which is what he wanted to do in the first place.

o0o

-Surprisingly in the morning they were served a pretty decent meal. Merlin guessed that since they were the bigger money makers they got better treatment.

Rowan entered "Everyone stand up and behave." The guard announced to the magical quarters occupants.

"What's going on?" Merlin asked the other magic users.

"Someone is supposed to come and measure our magical levels." Faber answered.

Merlin never knew that you could measure magic levels. "How?" He received a shrug in response.

"I heard that they can also figure out what your magic is suited for." Kayna whispered over hearing their conversation.

Merlin frowned when he noticed that Jagger had slipped in behind Rowan. The man smirked at him and leaned against the far wall to watch the proceedings.

A small old man was led in by some guards wearing a similar robe to the ones that had been forced on them. So he was probably another slave then. Reaching into a trunk he had brought with him he pulled out a very strange item. It was a long stone that had ruins also carved into it.

"Single file." The guard commanded them.

The four of them scrambled to be last in line but the guards put a stop to that. It ended up being Faber out front, then Bayn, Merlin, and Kayna last.

"Step forward." The short man indicated he was ready to begin.

Faber took a deep breath before moving towards the man. Nervous about not knowing how the item worked.

Merlin peaked around Bayn to see what was happening. The stone was being held over the pulse point in Faber's neck. It glowed a bright green for a second. "Healer of an average level." The short man announced.

Next was Bayn, the stone glowed a dim red." Battle magic of a low level." The man shook his head as if disappointed at the result. Bayn skulked back towards his bed.

Merlin was next. He wondered what would happen. These people didn't know he was Emrys. They just thought he was another magic user they could use for their powers.

Stepping forward he looked at the stone curiously. When the stone touched his neck it felt cold against his warm skin. Suddenly it lit up a bright gold and he felt the man gasp in pain and drop the stone to the floor where it smashed into several pieces.

-"What's wrong?" Rowan demanded as the old man gasped in pain.

"It burned me." The small sorcerer held his red palm up to observe it.

Merlin blinked as he looked down at it. He guessed he wasn't successful at hiding his power level.

Rowan looked in wonder at the unassuming boy. So much power was held in such an unassuming package. Merlin felt his arms grabbed and he was led over to the far wall that had a chain attached to it. The shackle was attached to his neck. "Can't have you escaping now."

-"What a prize we have found." Rowan rubbed his hands together in glee. "You'll make some king a fine court sorcerer."

"We have lots of work ahead of us with just awards." Jaggar smirked openly at his business partner.

…**TBC**


	4. Complicated Rescue

Sorry it took me a while to update but I decided I wanted to work on the next chapter after this so I could figure out how everything was going to pan out. I got really into it after I added a character in. I just couldn't stop writing it and come back to this. The next chapter is so much more exciting. I had to push the ending of this chapter into the next one because it ended up being almost 8ooo words.

I was still on the fence about making this story a SLASH one but now it defiantly is because I have two guys who are interested in Merlin. I's now a double slash or love triangle. You know one is Arthur but who is the other guy? I left a clue for you in this chapter. See if you can figure it out by your self.

I'm going on vacation to Cuba for a week so there won't be any updates until I get back. There's no internet except for some you have to pay for so I'll be offline the whole time most likely. My plane leaves at 3:30 today so I wanted to get this up. If there is any mistakes, I'll just have to fix it when I get back. That means I won't be able to read any fanfiction either which will be hard.

It'll force me to work on my own fanfictions though so expect an update when I get back.

* * *

_**Bird in a Cage**_

_Complicated Rescue_

**o0o**

The next day they tried to gather more information on the sorcerer auction. From what they had heard through rumors, it had been pushed back even further for some reason. They all sat around the fire pit thinking about what they were going to do now.

"That gives us more time to plan." Gwaine exclaimed like it was a good thing.

"Yeah but it's worrying. Why would they do that?" Arthur said in deep contemplation.

"Why does it worry you?" Percival inquired.

"Look around you. They are losing business this way." Arthur pointed towards the road out of Kelton that they could just see through the foliage. It had many people leaving on it; not willing to wait around for the next auction. As nobles they had a schedule to follow.

"We have to figure out where they are keeping Merlin and get him out." Gwaine suggested adamantly. This seemed like a really good thing to him. The time frame they had before didn't leave them much wiggle room.

"I agree but how are we going to find that information out?" Lancelot queried.

"We'll have to talk to some of the other nobles who are still here." Arthur exclaimed. "I'm sure they're curious to. I doubt the slavers are releasing much information to the public at the moment.

Most of the crowd could only dream of having enough money to afford to buy a kept-sorcerer. It was the nobles and merchants who would have the information they needed. The thing was, they only trusted other noble's so their current disguises wouldn't do.

"We can't have princess back in his finery. For sure someone would recognize him." Gwaine immediately said as soon as it was suggested they needed to dress up.

"Who's going to do it, you?" Arthur replied indignantly. "No one would believe your high born. You carry yourself all wrong."

"I'll have you know I was taught perfect etiquette, I just chose not to use it." Gwaine replied crossly, standing up straighter with perfect posture. "No. Lancelot could do it." He replied as he slumped against a tree.

"That could work." Arthur nodded in consideration looking at the knight. "You and Merlin managed to trick me that you were highborn before." The way Lancelot held himself with confidence. He spoke with actually intelligence that spoke of years of tutoring that he didn't actually have.

"That was all Merlin's idea just to clarify." Lancelot shifted uncomfortable when his original deception was brought up. It wasn't his most noble time.

"Yeah, but it worked. Even with Merlin being the brains of the operation." Arthur pointed out the proof. "I didn't suspect a thing because you are just too perfect. I really should have when Merlin said he had a noble friend that he didn't make through me."

"I guess you are right." Lancelot gave in, they had a point. Even though technically Gwaine being the nobles son would be the best choice but the man had tried so hard to distance himself from his upbringing. The knight acted more like a bandit than a noble. "I'll do it."

"As a noble you'll need a servant." Arthur exclaimed, looking at his knights he tried to decide which one would be the most suitable. "I guess Elyan will be best." He had been a black smith's son so he didn't have the same continence as a noble but didn't have bad manners either because his father taught him how to deal with the customers who were mostly nobles because they were the only ones who could afford the weapons.

"Why can't I do it?" Gwaine complained at being looked over once again.

"You're too ... We aren't trying to make another Merlin, alright. We want to make a picture of a noble and his loyal servant." Arthur rolled his eyes at the knights complaining.

"Hey, Merlin's loyal." Gwaine narrowed his eyes. "What are you trying to say?"

"I know Merlin is loyal." Arthur sighed in exasperation, rubbing his temples. "Merlin just doesn't exude loyalty to strangers, when he's bad mouthing me and calling his master a dollop head."

"Aw, good old Merlin. I miss him." Gwaine exclaimed forlornly.

"We all do." Arthur snapped in agitation. "Now stop complaining. Let's put this plan into action."The prince dug through his pack for some of his higher quality clothes. He picked a blue tunic and a grey leather doublet Merlin had packed him. It didn't seem like a good idea to dress Lancelot in Camelot red.

He placed the clothes in the knights arms. Lancelot turned and entered the tent to put the clothes on.

"What should I wear?" Elyan inquired. He'd been wearing his normal clothes under the cloaks but he didn't think they screamed servant. It had been a gift from Gwen. Now that she could afford it they were made from superior quality materials than ever before. There were silver buttons down the front of the tunic that Gwen had sewn on herself.

"I think we still have Merlin's pack." Arthur exclaimed, walking over to the manservant's horse. Flipping open the travel pack he discovered mostly food. He narrowed his eyes at this remembering the trip to the market that started all this. After digging through closer to the bottom he finally retrieved Merlin's extra pair of clothes for the journey. "Success." He held up the clothes for Elyan to see.

.

Luckily Lancelot wore a similar size to the prince he thought as he tugged the clothes on.

The jacket felt a little tight across the shoulders but he suspected it was because it hadn't been properly broken in yet. The grey of the leather had a bluish undertone that would deter the prince from wearing it. Of course Merlin would pack it trying to force his master to break the habit of only wearing red and browns.

Checking the state of his breaches and boots he realized they weren't too bad luckily. His feet were bigger than the princes unfortunately so what he had would just have to do. Lancelot kneeled down and polished the toe of the footwear with a random rag. Traversing the country side through all sorts of weather had not left them the most clean.

When Lancelot exited the tent he blinked in surprise. Elyan had on a familiar red shirt and neckerchief around his neck. "Why are you wearing Merlin's clothes?" He asked confused.

"My tunic was too high end for a servant so we went through Merlin's pack." Elyan shrugged sheepishly adjusting the blue neckerchief nervously. Too bad they didn't have the brown jacket to complete the full outfit but Merlin was wearing it when he was captured.

"Just don't damage anything, you know how much Merlin cares about those clothes." Lancelot stood tall informing Elyan, who nodded in understanding.

'Lancelot truly was the best choice' Arthur thought to himself. With his brown hair and eyes; if anyone tried to describe him there would be hundreds of people who matched the same description. Once Lancelot was back under the cloak they shouldn't have any problems.

"I have something that'll complete the outfit." Gwaine exclaimed walking over with something behind his back. He forced something on the Knight's head.

"Where the hell did you get that thing?" Arthur asked, knowing it wasn't something any of them owned. Lancelot rearranged the hat and had to flick the blue feather out of his face. It was a wide brimmed hat with a bunch of large exotic blue feathers sticking out of it. The style was something that was more popular across the channel making Lancelot appear foreign.

"He nicked it from one of the nobles as they were packing to leave." Percival answered with a sigh.

"Oh hush. It totally completes the disguise." Gwaine brushed the reprimand away for his brash behaviour. It would've drawn attention to them if he had been caught stealing. "It gives people something to remember and attach to his new persona, once we take the hat away he'll be totally unrecognizable."

"Now at least his eyes are shadowed by the brim of the hat." Elyan pointed out with a shrug.

"I guess so." Arthur sighed in resignation. It was something only a noble would wear since the hat was completely impractical, with one side flipped up to keep the feathers in place. It was purely made to only to look good and not serve a purpose. If it rained one side of your head would be unprotected.

"You know it fits perfectly into the whole ensemble." Gwaine nudged the prince with his elbow playfully.

"Whatever." Arthur dodged the knight's playful pushes. He turned to the new lord and master. "You two need to go to the main auction area and see if you can gather any information."

.o.

They made their way into the courtyard.

Elyan made sure to stay four steps behind Lancelot at all times. It was important he didn't break his character by walking like they were equals. Merlin often ignored the rules of master and servant which made him so unusual, they now knew that wasn't the only thing.

It was sparsely populated with only a couple nobles here or there talking amongst themselves. There was a large sign nailed to the podium with the new date for the sorcerer auction painted upon it. Looking around they didn't see any other information on the matter.

Lancelot stood starring at it in contemplation.

"Can you believe they pushed the auction back again?" A random lord asked who had noticed his actions. The man was older with grey hair near his temples, wearing fine quality indigo robes with a fur trim.

The man talked to him first so Lancelot decided to run with it. "It is horrible. We all have a life to get back to." He brought up what the prince had commented on earlier. Making sure to angle his head to keep his eyes in shadow.

"Yes, agreed. I'm Lord Crewe of Mercia." The Lord introduced himself and waited for him to return the favor.

Lancelot had to rack his brain since they forgot to give him a new name. "I'm Baron Bouchard." He decided to go with because it was a well-respected family that had emigrated from France recently. They hardly left the shores of the channel so it was unlikely this lord would run into any of them.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Lancelot shook the man's hand, glad he's thrown off any suspicions of his identity. "What brings you here?"

"Same as everyone else I'd imagine." Lancelot exclaimed, trying not to give too many details he would have to remember. It wouldn't be good to be caught in a lie.

"Yes indeed." Lord Crewe laughed at his comment. "I was sent by my king to require a new sorcerer since the crops have not been performing as well lately as expected." He whispered since it was a fact that showed weakness in the kingdom.

Lancelot nodded in understanding of the kingdoms need. "I was wondering if I can ask you something?"

"Anything my boy." Lord Crewe tilted his head in consent for him to continue. It appeared Lancelot had gained the lords favor.

"I was wondering if you've heard any rumours about the sorcerers?" Lancelot asked openly, like he was just curious. "I'm looking for a very specific type of magic user."

"Any particular reason?" Crewe asked curiously, probably worried he was after the same sorcerer.

"I want to know if it is worth it to wait around for the auction." Lancelot led on.

"I don't have any specifics on their specialties but I know where you can catch a peak at them in the meantime." Lord Crewe replied like he had already done so.

"You know where they're keeping the sorcerers?" Lancelot asked not able to hide his eagerness. The hat slipped down to cover his face at his sudden movement so he had to readjust it. This is exactly what they wanted to know. Elyan moved closer so that he could hear the answer better. The lord paid him no attention. In the role as the servant he was practically invisible to the elite.

"Yes. The hut near the very back has magic suppressing ruins carved into the outside." Crewe revealed pointing in the direction to where the slavers disappeared to at night. There were quite a few huts in the direction. "It is only logical that is where they are being kept."

"Thank you for the information Lord Crewe. You've been very helpful." Lancelot turned and headed back to the camp to fill the others in of what he learned. Elyan followed behind him in his wake like a good servant.

Lord Crewe scratched his scalp in confusion that the Baron didn't stick around to hear more. He was only teasing with the small amount of information he'd given. He'd bribed one of the sell sword to tell him about the current sorcerer stock. He now had names for all four and specialties.

He also knew that one of them had been moved the night before.

Oh well Crewe shrugged continuing on his morning stroll. It was a lovely day and he was enjoying his time by the sea.

...

Percival perked up from his guard duty when he realized who the approaching forms were. "They're returning." He announced.

Arthur emerged from the tent with anticipation. He rocked on the balls of his feet impatiently as he watched his knights approach.

"Did you learn anything?" Gwaine asked eagerly. Jumping down from where he had been perched on top of a barrel eating an apple.

"Yes." Lancelot replied as he removed the annoying hat, shaking out his hair. He started to undo the buttons on his doublet since he felt suffocated in the tight padded jacket.

"And...?" Arthur asked in impatience.

"Apparently the sorcerers are being kept in one of the huts in the slavers village." Lancelot revealed. Kelton had a section of the port dedicated to the men who were always coming and going. It held barracks and cells for the cargo, along with a mess hall.

"You'd think they would keep the sorcerers somewhere more secure than a wooden hut." Arthur commented. They hadn't wanted to just assume that was where they were keeping Merlin since it was likely they would only have one chance before they would have to flee.

"According to Lord Crewe the whole outer has ruins carved into it to it suppress the magic users from using their powers." Lancelot revealed what he'd heard. "Along with that there's the iron chains that block them from using their powers anyway. Believe me, they're secure."

"Now we know where they're being kept we can go get Merlin." Gwaine grabbed his sword and tied it to his belt.

"Wait." Lancelot grabbed the knight's arm to stop him from dashing off. "We'll have to wait till evening."

"Why?" Gwaine snapped in impatience. Merlin had been in the slavers hands for a couple days now, he wanted to get him back as soon as possible. There was no knowing how he was being treated.

"There are too many people wondering around at this time of day. We'll have more than just the guards to sneak past." Lancelot tried to explain.

"We'll leave at sundown then." Arthur nodded in agreement. "All we can do now is sit and wait."

.0.

Arthur stared into the fire deep in thought.

His manservant had been on his mind a lot lately. He missed him dearly. It was true what they said that you don't know what you had until it was gone.

Seeing Merlin in that white outfit about to be auctioned off as a sex slave had made him think of the servant differently. He had always thought of the servant as innocent in the way of the flesh but now others considered Merlin desirable in that area.

Arthur had been going to brothels with the knights from a young age, originally out of curiosity. It was only now that he realized that since his father made him take on Merlin as his manservant, Arthur had stopped going completely. He had cared too much about what the boy would think of him if he caught wind of his exploits.

Having Merlin out of his reach after he found out about his secret, that he had magic, helped a lot. All these years together and he had never suspected. The fact that Merlin hadn't trusted Arthur enough to tell him hurt. He wasn't sure how he would have reacted if they had been back in Camelot though. Would he have thrown the warlock in the dungeons in his anger?

"You alright?" Lancelot asked, he'd noticed the prince's brooding look. The fire gave deep shadows to his face making him appear sinister. It was never good to over think something.

"I just keep thinking about why Merlin would have come or stayed in Camelot all these years. The way I treated him a lot of the time…" Arthur now knew that any moment his manservant could have killed him in the blink of an eye or turned him into a toad. Instead Merlin shoveled his horse's manure with only a grumble under his breath that he was a prat. "I've told him multiple times how I thought magic was evil. He watched dozens of sorcerers' executions for god's sake."

"Merlin felt he could do some good in Camelot so he stayed." Lancelot revealed. He knew that Merlin stayed originally because the great dragon had told him it was his destiny to protect the once and future king. Once he got to know the prince, Merlin continued to protect him because he came to care for him deeply and didn't want to see him hurt.

"Gaius" The prince suddenly exclaimed, the knight gave him a confused look. "My father says that Gaius used to perform magic. He's the only reason I can think of that Merlin would come to Camelot. I bet you Gaius knew all along." Arthur sprouted knowing he was right. He'd known the physician his whole life and he'd kept the secret of Merlin's powers for years. If Gaius trusted his ward not to harm Camelot then it made him surer of his decision.

"Yes." Lancelot confirmed the prince's suspicions. "Merlin told me his mother sent him to Camelot to learn some control." He'd had some deep talks with the warlock so he could get everything off his chest. Other than Gaius he probably knew more about Merlin than his own mother ever would.

"Control?" Arthur asked him to clarify.

"His magic ran on instinct originally. Merlin never knew any spells until he came to Camelot." Lancelot explained. Most magic users stayed in hiding and would not reveal themselves even if they suspected someone else had developed similar gifts. Not willing to risk being wrong. Merlin had no one to learn from. "He used to sneeze and things would start floating."

"How does Hunith know Gaius? I never bothered to ask before." Arthur inquired curiously. Merlin's mother seamed so separate from Camelot in the small village but he knew that Gaius had not lived anywhere else his whole life. They must have met in the citadel because the physician did not leave its walls very often except to collect herbs. It was well enough for Hunith to trust her son's live and safety with.

"I think she was Gaius' apprentice at one point but had to return home for personal reasons." Lancelot exclaimed trying to remember.

"I don't know how Merlin managed to keep his magic a secret all these years?" Arthur contemplated out loud.

"Maybe you just weren't paying enough attention." Lancelot tantalised.

.0.

It had steadily grown darker until most of the light was coming from the camp fire. Going through their packs they applied their armor and strapped their swords on. The moon was visible in the sky by the time the prince considered it acceptable to begin to head out.

Once night had completely fallen they made their move.

As a group they swiftly moved through Kelton. It was late enough that none of the towns people were out and about. Soon they had the Slavers village in their sights. It was much more heavily guarded than the town.

Hiding in the shadows they snuck closer. Once their targets were clearly in sight Arthur signaled for them to attack. They snuck up behind the sell-swords and knocked them on the heads making them fall into unconsciousness.

Looking around to see if they'd been discovered. They had tried to stay as quite as possible. "Clear." Percival whispered with his sword out ready for any surprise attacks.

They made their way down the alley between the huts. Gwaine quickly took out a sell-sword that had stumbled upon then. The shield rolled away and made a clang as it hit a hut. He winced at his mistake while the others sent him a glare. A few more guards came to check out the noise but they had expected that so they were ready for a fight. They took them out easily.

Swiftly they snuck past the huts to the end of the row before they ran into anyone else. Peaking around the corner, the sorcerer's hut came into sight. The ruins seemed to glow in the moon light as if they were magic themselves. The hut was guarded by about a dozen sell swords. They had grown complacent against an attack though. Half of them were playing dice so it wouldn't be too hard to take them out.

With a signal of the prince's hand they charged.

...

Sitting up in her bed, Kayna clutched the sheet in her hands as she starred wide eyed at the door. She gasped at the sound of a fight going on outside the hut. She had been woken up from the light sleep she had been in by the loud noises.

Throwing the covers off, Bayn dashed to where the young women was. He tugged Kayna to her feet, leading her to a positioned behind the furthest bed from the door. "Get down." Bayn forced the young women to the ground so they would be out of sight.

Faber followed their lead and joined them. It could be anyone on the other side of that door. They could only hope that they meant them no harm. The door was hammered on. After a few bangs it was splintered open with forced. Meaning they weren't fellow magic users.

.

_They could hear the footsteps of five men stalked into the room. There was silence as they looked around. _

_"It's empty." Once of them snapped. "Lancelot, I think that Lord Coo lied to you."_

_"I don't think he did, and it was Lord Crewe Gwaine." Once of the others snapped back with exasperation in his tone._

_"Shut up, both of you." A haughty voice commanded that could only belong to a high noble. "I don't think those sell swords would be guarding an empty hut. He must be here somewhere."_

_"Don't tell me to shut up princess." The original speaker replied defensively._

.

Faber furrowed his brow in contemplation. The group dynamics of the attackers rang a bell in his mind. He moved to get a peek over the obstruction but Bayn grabbed his arm and shook his head. "I think I know who these people are." Faber whispered moving, the young man released his hold.

He stood up from his place hidden behind the bed with his hands raised to show he meant no harm. Five swords pointed towards him when they caught his movement.

"Who are you?" The blonde one in the middle asked with authority. Faber guessed he was the leader.

"He's one of the sorcerers obviously. Look at those shackles." One with a scruffy beard exclaimed.

"Arthur Pendragon?" Faber asked the leader.

The blondes eyes narrowed and his sword raised. "How do you know who I am?" He demanded suspiciously with a pursed expression. He was sure he'd never set his eyes on this man before.

"Merlin described you to us." Faber sighed in relief that his suspicions had been confirmed. "You can come out now."

Bayn helped Kayna back to her feet; the chains jingled as they moved. They stared at the group of armed men with vary eyes. The quality of the armor they wore signified them as knights which was reassuring.

"You're really Arthur Pendragon, Prince of Camelot?" Bayn asked dumbfounded at the regal looking blonde man standing before him.

"Yeah, who's asking?" Arthur replied looking at the boy suspiciously. He was a few years younger than them. Judging by his attire he was a peasant.

"Dam, I thought Merlin was lying about being your manservant." Bayn exclaimed in surprise. It still seemed like suicide to work so close under the devils son. The prince was here though to rescue his manservant after finding out about his magic so he couldn't be that bad.

"Where's Merlin?" Arthur asked as he looked around the hut like his manservant would appear out of the shadows.

The sorcerers shifted uncomfortably. None of them wanted to break the news to the prince. As the oldest Faber decided to take the task on. "Not here unfortunately. He was taken to be more heavily guarded at another location."

Lancelot berated himself when he realized that was what Lord Crewe was going to tell him before he rushed off. If only he had stayed he could have learned of Merlin's new location. They could have changed their rescue attempt accordingly.

"What for?" Arthur understood that Merlin had magic but what made him different from the other three present. Was it his loud mouth or something that got him in deeper trouble?

"They tested our magic levels yesterday and his was found off the charts." Bayn filled the knights in. No one's magic had ever been gold in colour before.

"What does that mean?" Percival asked anxiously. The knights shared nervous looks with each other. Merlin had never been normal in any regard and it appeared once again he had defied their expectations.

"He's being put on the block for only kings to bid on. Merlin is being labeled as the next great court sorcerer." Kayna informed them with worry in her tone for her knew friend. "We're supposed to be the consolation prizes for the losers." She gestured to the other two magic users.

"They sent invites to all 5 kingdoms." Faber revealed further information he'd overheard from the gossip the sell-sword talked amongst each other. "From what I've heard they've all accepted."

"That means..." Lancelot blanched at the information. 'This wasn't good at all.' He thought to himself, his stomach sinking.

"Father." Arthur said with dread... ~

o0o

Merlin jingled every time he moved. He was unable to get comfortable.

He'd been brought to a new location blindfolded so he wouldn't know where he ended up. He didn't know why they bothered though since they put him magically to sleep for a bit to. It was only removed when he was standing in front of the iron cell he would be put in to await the auction.

Merlin was pushed into the cell that held normal things like a bed to sleep in, but it had no windows and he walls were made of solid metal as well as the floor. It was cold against his touch and gave a sick feeling in his stomach. He quickly situated himself on the soft sheets of the bed so he wasn't touching the iron anymore.

He felt a moment of relief but then the oppression settled in. Being surrounded by so much iron dampened his powers even more than the ruin covered hut. It was very dark in the cell with the only light let in from the eye slit in the door. He could see why Kayna had shuddered at the mere thought.

Merlin felt so drowsy and out of it, like he hadn't slept a wink in days. He was having trouble just keeping his eyes open.

If he looked through the bars he could see about 5 guards outside his cell and there was probably another dozen he couldn't see outside. 'What a fine mess he'd gotten himself into.' Merlin sighed as he flopped onto the bed. It seemed like he'd be in this location for a while. The slavers were waiting for something, he wondered what it could be.

The only thing worse now that could happen was if a renegade druid came along and revealed that they had the legendary Emrys in their hands. He wouldn't be surprised if Mordred showed up to do just that just to spite him.

When his cell door was opened with a squeak. Merlin squinted into the bright light to see who it was.

"How's my little birdie doing today?" Jagger asked mockingly leaning against the doorjamb with a smirk on his face at the boys paler complexion. It meant the cell was doing its job at keeping the boy's power under lock and key.

"Why'd they move me away from the others?" Merlin wanted to tell the man to fuck off. He could see he enjoyed his discomfort.

"You are a hot commodity that many kings would love to get their hands on." Jagger grinned as he explained. "We couldn't risk anyone trying to free you, so we've placed you in a place no one would even think to look."

"Kings?" Merlin paled even further at the implications. Sitting up in the bed with a led feeling in his stomach.

"Oh yes. We've sent invites out to all the kingdoms. We pushed the auction back a couple days just so they have time to travel here. Even your old Sovereign accepted." Jagger took pleasure in informing the boy. "We'll have you perform an example of the power you hold in the arena so that they could see for themselves then they can fight amongst each other to possess you."

"How am I supposed to do a demonstration my magic when I'm wearing dampening shackles?" Merlin asked holding up the heavy chains.

"Those are special. They aren't meant to suppress you from doing any magic. They are just made to cut you off from controlling what you cast. The one you are sold to will have full control over every spell you cast while you won't be able to access your magic at all." Rowan explained walking up behind his new partner. "In three days you'll have a new home." He informed the warlock.

"Or even return to your old one." Jagger exclaimed leaving the implication for the Birdy to fill in himself. If Uther Pendragon won the auction they all knew what would become of the boy. The deal for fifty percent of the profits was going better than he could ever imagine. He closed the door leaving the boy in the dark with only his thoughts for company.

Merlin collapsed back onto the bed and stared toward the ceiling of the cell, all he could see was darkness. There was nothing he could do at this moment of time so he tried not to think about what was going to happen in a few days' time. He felt it he was helpless to escape without access to his magic.

His eye lids felt heavy and he was having trouble keeping them open. Rolling over he gave into the urge to sleep.

There was an unfamiliar swaying motion. Merlin owed it to the effects the iron were having on him. He felt like he had spent the night drinking and would not be able to stay on his feet.

o0o

~ The prince felt like his heart had skipped a beat. "This is getting really complicated, now my father is involved." Arthur mumbled to himself. He was hoping he would be able to just return with Merlin and his father would be none the wiser of his powers. It looked like that was impossible now.

"We can't just leave Merlin here to be sold to the highest bidder." Gwaine snapped.

"Your right. We need to head back to the camp and regroup." Arthur nodded in agreement. He turned around and headed towards the broken door way to leave.

"What about the other sorcerers?" Lancelot asked stopping the prince in his tracks.

"What about them?" Arthur asked, looking over his shoulder.

"We can't just leave them here to be sold to the highest bidder." Lancelot said with conviction. It just didn't seem right to him to leave them to that fate.

"We should take them with us." Gwaine suggested pointing to the magic users. "We could use their help."

"I agree." Percival nodded enthusiastically.

Arthur sighed in exasperation. Bringing these magic users along with them would make things a lot more complicated than they already were. "Fine." He gave in under pressure. It seemed to him that Merlin had made friends with these other magic users in the short amount of time they'd been incarcerated together. If he left them and Merlin found out he had a chance to free them, Arthur would be on the receiving end of one of his disappointed looks.

"So your all of you can use magic?" Gwaine asked looking at the three unsuspecting looking people. To him they all looked completely harmless. The one with the tattoo looked suspiciously more dangerous.

"Yes." Kayna replied politely to the knight's question. "I'm actually a seer though so I probably won't be much help with escaping."

Gwaine turned to the one with the tattoos. "You must have a lot of destructive spells right."

"No sorry." Faber shook his head. "I'm a healer actually."

"So we have three harmless sorcerers." Gwaine deflated. He had images of large explosions in his mind. What's the point of teaming up with magic users if they weren't deadly? He pouted in disappointment. "I thought all magic users were supposed to be dangerous?" The knight asked sarcastically.

"That's what the king led us to believe." Arthur sighed deeply.

He just took his father's words to heart and had followed the king's laws. All those people had been executed without a proper trial. His father had taught him since birth that magic users were deadly and could never be trusted. Actually communicating with sorcerers he realized that they were people just like everyone else.

Merlin being one of them had completely blown the image of everyone with magic being evil out of Arthur's mind.

"Hey, don't group me in with these two. I specialize in battle magic." Bayn crossed his arms over his chest defensively.

"You'd really come with us and use your powers.

"If you can get us out of this room and these shackles, I'll show you what we can do." Bayn exclaimed gesturing to the large ruins carved into the walls.

"Enough talking. We should really get out of here." Elyan pointed out nervously worried more sell swords would show up. He had already had to knock one of the soldiers out again. They had left him by the door to make sure no one was coming.

"Your right." Arthur nodded. He nudged what was left of the door from Percival opened and peaked out to see if anyone had noticed anything was amiss. "It's clear." He signaled with his hand for them to follow him.

…**TBC**


	5. Druid

I can't believe that this chapter wasn't up. I finished this months ago an I swear that I posted it around new years but it was missing when I went to post the next chapter. Maybe I only put it on Archive Of Our Own. Oh well, now you get two chapters to read at once.

* * *

**Bird In A Cage**

_Druid_

**o0o**

They managed to make it back to their camp without much trouble.

"How are we going to get these shackles off?" Bayne asked, shaking his wrists to make the chains jingle together.

"Well luckily for you, we have a black smith with us." Gwaine exclaimed.

"Apprentice black smith actually." Elyan corrected stepped forward once his skills were acknowledge. "I left before my father could teach me all he knew." Taking the man's wrist, he examined the shackles make. He blinked in surprise. "There's no opening on them." He turned the arm every which way but didn't see any break in the metal except for the hinge.

"Yeh, they had one of the other kept-sorcerers magic it closed." Bayn explained the reason for the anomaly. "They don't want to risk us being able to pry it open."

"It's hopeless isn't it?" Kayna asked in dread, slouching her shoulders in defeat. "We'll be stuck in the shackles without another magic user with access to their powers."

"No not hopeless. I just need to make a new opening." Elyan reassured the young women, patting her hand. "Hand me a dagger?" Elyan asked holding out a hand to receive the small weapon. "One that you don't mind being destroyed." Gwaine handed him one with a frayed handle and a rusted blade. Putting the blade into the fire he held it there until the metal was molten from the heat.

"Hold still. I don't want to burn you." Elyan warned so he wouldn't burn her by accident. Holding the dagger to the shackles he pressed the thin edge to the metal and rubbed it back and forth. Reheating the dagger, he repeated the action again.

Examining how there was only a very thin layer left holding it together he dropped the dagger to the sand. Taking each side of the shackle in both hands Elyan gave them tug in opposite directions apart and the shackles fell to the ground.

Kayna let off a light laugh in relief. Rubbing her bare wrist in amazement. She could feel her powers rushing back to the surface. They had been suppressed for a long while and she had almost forgot how good it felt to feel the magic running through her veins.

"That's one down."Elyan smiled in relief that his method worked. He repeated the same process with the other hand trapped by the shackle, completely freeing Kayna. "Who's next?" Elyan turned to the other two sorcerers. Faber and Bayn fought amongst each other to be first.

"Do Bayne first, we're going to need him." Arthur commanded the knight acting as a blacksmith.

"What's the rush?" Gwaine asked noticing how agitated the prince had grown. Like he was gearing up for a battle.

"We can't just wait for tomorrow night. They know we're here now so we have to act now before they get too organized." Arthur snapped, passing back and forth by the fire. Freeing the sorcerer's of their bounds had been a small victory. They had little time though, and had to get going if they wanted Merlin back.

"Can't you see what's going to happen?" Gwaine asked the young women curiously. He was fascinated with what magic could accomplish. "Did you have any visions of Merlin somewhere unfamiliar lately?"

"Unless you want me to take a nap." Kayna replied testily. Her seeing powers were very fickle. She had never had proper training to learn how to control her powers on command. "You'll just have to use your logic to figure it out."

"Where do you think they're keeping Merlin?" Lancelot contemplated out loud.

"They would want to keep him close. I'm guessing he would be keeping him in the main hut so he would be near Rowan at all times." Faber exclaimed; drawing in the dirt with a stick he roughed out the layout of the buildings that he had observed when he arrived. "This is the hut main hut where a majority of the slavers stay when they're in town. I'm guessing they would keep Merlin there."

"There's rumours that they have an iron cell in there." Kayna said with a shiver in dread at just the thought of it.

"Why would it matter that it was iron?" Percival asked curiously.

"Iron suppresses magic." Faber exclaimed. "It's what our shackles are made of too. Something in the metal neutralizes the power that runs through our bodies."

"I've been asked before to make pure iron weapons before. The thing is the metal isn't as strong as mixed metals and it is more likely to snap in the middle of battle after a couple uses." Elyan exclaimed to confirm the diagnoses.

"If they have placed Merlin in this box -surrounded by so much iron- he'll be severely weakened, right?" Gwaine asked with dread. The warlock was one of his best friends and he didn't like the sound of him having to experience that.

"There's nothing we can do except get him out of there." Arthur exclaimed with a deep sigh. "Do any of you know any spells that would be useful?" He asked the two male sorcerers. Kayna had already revealed she was untrained so she wouldn't be much help.

"This one isn't mush use unless one of us get injured, and I'd like to avoid that." Gwaine exclaimed pointing towards the one with the tattoo.

"No offence taken." Faber nodded in understanding. "I can do other spells I just haven't trained to use them. It wouldn't be very reliable." The purge had left it so that many people who developed magic had no idea how to control it because no one was left to train them. Going to the druids had helped him but he didn't learn anything destructive.

"What type of battles have you been in?" Arthur asked the young man curiously. The boy should be useful. He wanted to make sure he knew what he had on hand.

"Well I have been in any large battles exactly." Bayn replied with a light blush under the prince of Camelot's eyes. He had everyone's attention now.

"But you said you specialized in battle magic?" Arthur asked confused by the boy's response that contradicted his earlier words.

"I mean that I've studied it the most because my magic works best in that area." Bayn replied self-consciously. "I come from a small farming village that doesn't have much use for my powers. The only time I've ever had to use it was some bandits tried to steal our harvest so I used it to scare them off. The whole village saw me; and that's how I ended up here."

"After you protected them someone still told on you." Elyan asked surprised.

"People are scared of what they don't understand." Bayn shrugged, he hadn't taken it personally.

.

After a short rest they decided to head out. They left Kayna and Faber back at camp considering they wouldn't be much help in a battle. They would act like more of a hindrance. Hopefully they would all return in one piece and Faber's healing skills would not be needed.

In the darkness they snuck up on the main building. It was guarded by a few sell-swords. In a rush they took them all out. Not killing but just knocking them out.

Arthur tugged on the main door but had no luck in opening it. "I can't get the door open."

"I've got this." Bayn exclaimed stalking to stand in front of the group. The prince shrugged and stood aside. Holding out a hand in front of him he spoke foreign word and a beam shot out of Bayn's hand blowing up the door on the hut to pieces.

"Now that's what I'm talking about." Gwaine exclaimed in glee. Feeling kiddy from the show of power.

Rushing in they split up to search the rooms. Checking all the rooms on the main level they found them all empty. Where were the slavers? It seemed to be abandoned. The only life they'd seen were the sell swords guarding it on the outside.

Checking around them, Gwaine noticed an anomaly in the floor under a barrel in the food store room, like someone was trying to hide something. He tried to push the barrel but it was too heavy for his slight form. "Hey Percy, come in here and help me!" Gwaine called

The knight showed up in the doorway not long after responding to his cry for assistance.

"Can you move this barrel?" Percy shrugged and walked over leisurely and gave the barrel a firm shove moving it to the far wall.

Gwaine smirked in accomplishment when it revealed an entrance to a cellar. "We found something!" He announced calling everyone to their location.

Tugging the ring on the floor the panel lifted up revealing a rickety ladder. Once by one they climbed down into the dank cellar that was lit by some torches; meaning someone had been here recently. They all got out their swords just in case and walked down the dreary passage.

They met a thick locked door which was more encouraging than detouring. It was meant to keep people out because there was something valuable on the other side. Bayne easily took care of it, blowing off the handle. The loud noise alerting some sell-swords that were on the other side. The knights easily took them out.

Once the threat was taken care of they were able to take in the room. It had dirt walls and only held one things in it other than a rickety wooden table the guards' had been playing dice at. This is what Arthur suspected that Kayna had been speaking about earlier. On the far side of the cellar there was an iron box in all its glory.

"If Merlin is here, that is where he would be." Bayn exclaimed giving the metal box nervous looks. It was a magic users worst nightmares.

Gwaine rushed over to the door of the cell in worry. "Merlin buddy, you ok!" He tried to yell through the thick metal. When he peered through the peep hole he couldn't see anything because it was too dark to see a thing. "He isn't answering." He exclaimed with anxiety in his tone.

"Maybe Merlin's unconscious. I wouldn't be surprised if the slavers drugged him." Lancelot exclaimed with a shrug.

"Or maybe they gagged him because Merlin was talking too much." Arthur exclaimed since it was a more likely situation. "We should just try to get this thing opened and see." He tried to open it but it was locked tight.

Checking the guard's robes for a ring of keys they didn't find any. Originally Percy tried to pry it open using a crow bar, his muscled bulged but he had little success.

"Stand aside." Bayn warned holding his hand out in front of him. The knights all scrambled out of the way. With a concentrated blast of power he hit the lock. The thick iron door swung open with a pop since its lock had been melted off.

Rushing over to see inside they all groaned. The cell was completely empty with no sign that anyone had occupied it any time recently.

"Merlin's not here." Arthur sighed in disappointment.

.0.

Jagger smirked from the deck of the ship.

He had a clear view from here of the attack on the main hut of the slavers village. Originally Rowan had wanted to house the warlock close to his chambers but he had warned against it because it was too obvious. Jagger had inquired if there was anywhere else with an iron cell. Rowan admitted that one of the ships was outfitted with one for safe transportation on the water.

Rowan had complained about having to give up his luxurious bed for a hammock in the hull of the boat but it was the best option. All the other locations were easy enough to guess. They didn't want to risk losing their main event before the auction. The ship also was mobile so if someone tried to attack it they could just sail away.

It appeared that Jagger had been right. If they had stayed in the main hut they would have likely lost their prize. The identity of the rescuers was still a mystery to them but it didn't matter as long as they didn't succeed. Now they knew that others cared enough for the boy to fight to get him back. They would have to be more careful until the time of the auction.

Unless these men got a boat they would be out of luck.

o0o

"What do you mean they've escaped?" Rowan narrowed his eyes at his fellow slavers words. He'd spent the night getting the warlock situated in a secret location. He had come back in a small row boat in the morning to make sure everything was organized here only to find they'd lost the consolation prizes.

All the sell-swords who had been guarding the hut had fled as soon as they had regained consciousness. Realizing they had failed, they didn't want to stick around to receive their punishment. Rowan always thought that that the paid help had no loyalty.

Rowan went to investigate the sorcerer hut himself. The door had been knocked off its hinges, by someone who must have been huge. His anger grew when he realized they now had only the one sorcerer for their grand Sorcerer Auction.

He kicked one of the beds over in his anger. Making some his minions jump.

'He didn't need this.' Rowan massaged his temples trying to ward off a migraine. It was already going to be a stressful day tomorrow without this piled on top of it. Taking a deep breath, he tried to think of a solution. Where could he get more magic users on such short notice?

Rowan whipped around to face his minions. "Search the forest for any Druid Camps. Catch as many as you possibly can." He commanded, the slavers jumped into action to follow his command. "No killing though. They are no good to me dead." He warned.

.0.

Loud noises woke Mordred from his deep sleep.

After his last camp was raided by Camelot soldiers most of them had scattered. He had managed to stay in touch with Aglain. They had settled in a small druid camp far from the border of Uther's lands, figuring they would be safer in another kingdom all together. For five years he'd dwelled with these people.

Learning anything he could from the other druids along with travellers who passed by. His magic had grown a lot stronger since he was a child. Mordred found he had a lot more control now, he seldom found it bursting out of him when he was angry or upset.

Over the years he had also picked up sword fighting.

The druids had come across a wounded soldier, they brought the man back to camp to heal from his wounds. While the guy had been healing Mordred had inquired about learning the skill of the sword from the man. Every day the knight would instruct him how to hold a sword and where to place his feet. They had a few mock battles. He had been gifted the knights blade in thanks for their hospitality before he left back to the lord he served. Practising almost every day Mordred could claim he had become something of an expert.

Mordred peaked out of the tent to see what was going on. There were men on horses raiding through the camp. Since none of them owned a horse he knew it meant only trouble. They were missing the red capes of Camelot. The rest of the druid camp was scrambling to escape. Mordred turned back into his tent and grabbed his sword to help.

Some of the women and children were being backed into a corner so he rushed over to help. Mordred knocked the man out easily using the pummel of his sword. They all stared at him in shock. "You need to get out of here." They all were enforced back into action. "Go, go." Mordred tried to herd some of the children who were straggling behind into the woods.

When he heard loud footsteps Mordred turned and held up his sword defensively to face the group of men so that his fellow Druids could escape. Luckily he had grown taller over the years. Not as much as he had hoped through. He still wished he would bypass most of the girls in the village. His sword clanged with one of the soldiers who tried to distract him so that his brothers in arms could chase the others.

Using magic and weapon alike, he fought off the attackers. It was one against twenty or more but hopefully, he could hold them back long enough for the others to get away. With flashing gold eyes he threw soldiers back. Some hit trees while others were only pushed back a few feet. It was hard to disperse his magic instead of concentrating on one target.

He didn't notice the one slaver behind him. With a knock to the back of the head with the handle of a war hammer Mordred dropped. He landed on the leafy ground of the forest face down.

"He said not to injure them." Dagger warned his partner.

"The little fucker is fine." The slaver with the large war hammer exclaimed. He'd been around for a long time and had asked people to call him that after his weapon of choice. Everyone called him by Axe not even remembering his real name. Leaning down he threw the teenager over his shoulder. "This one will take a high price in the auction."

"He will indeed." Dagger smirked happily as they walked back towards where the others had gathered. "How many do we have?" He asked looking over the druids they had captured.

"From my count, seven. Most of them are old as fuck though or too young." Swift exclaimed with a sigh of dismay.

"Make that eight." Axe dropped the teen to the ground. Mordred hit with a loud thump because he wasn't able to break his fall. "This one is young and feisty. He took on a dozen sell-swords at once and appeared to be winning."

Swift checked over the condition of their new captive. Turning the teens head he stroked the steadily growing handsome face. "Rowan will be very happy with this one." Swift exclaimed, slapping one of the stronger strength magic collars they had on the boy's neck. With some rope they tied the teen's arms behind his back and his ankles since they had seen the way he could physically fight.

"We don't know if all these people even have magic." Dagger pointed the fact out as he looked at the sad set of captives gathered in from of them. Just because they lived in a Druid camp didn't mean that they had any powers. He doubted any of them would talk to them. Druids had that weird telepathic link so they could communicate together.

"We'll just have to test their powers when we get there." Axe swung the door closed. "We have no time to catch more. These captives need to be back in Kelton by sundown." He stalked over to his horse and mounted the stead.

The druid elder frowned as his apprentice was thrown down in front of him. The large man with the battle ax climbed into the driver's seat and whipped the reigns setting the carriage into movement. 'This wasn't good at all.' Aglain thought in dread as the Druid camp disappeared steadily from sight.

Aglain stroked Mordred's hair tenderly. Over the years he had grown to think of the boy like his own son.

For years they'd hidden themselves from Camelot only to be discovered by these ruffians. At least if they were Camelot knight's they would know what they'd want. These unknowns had not tried to kill anyone but only capture. What were they meaning to do with them?

Since he was so old they had not tied him up because he posed no physical threat. Only placed a slim metal collar on his neck that felt like only a slight itch when he tried to perform magic.

With what little magic he could perform he tried to send a message to Emrys for help.

.0.

Merlin groaned as a pounding headache started. Rubbing at his temples he sat up from his slumped position on the bed. It had come on suddenly like someone had flipped a switch.

He stood up and shuffled over to the small opening in the door. Peeking out, he could see the large form of Jagger sitting at the table with a couple guards in tow, playing dice. "Can I get a tonic or something? My head is killing me from being trapped in here." Merlin inquired with a groin of pain.

"Stop your whining." Jagger kicked the metal door and continued to play dice.

"Hey, I'm your big ticket item. You have to take extra good care of me so that I can put on a good show." Merlin complained, using his value to get what he wanted.

Jagger gave a dramatic sigh to show his reluctance. With a flick of his wrist he sent one of the guards to fetch the item. The chosen man stood from his chair and stomped out of the room to show his displeasure of having his game disturbed. When he returned he had a small bottle in his hand that had an unappealing brownish liquid in it.

Merlin tried to pear through the door to see what the rest of the place he was being kept in. He didn't manage to gather much before the door was snapped shut. It appeared that not only this room but the whole building was made of wood. The guard stalked over to the iron box and practically threw the bottle through the small opening. Merlin hand to scramble to catch it.

The men went back to their game of dice an ignored their captive.

Uncorking the bottle Merlin took a deep breath and took the tonic like a shot. He doubted it would taste any better than one of Gaius's potions.

Laying down on the bed he waited for it to take effect. Surprisingly after a short amount of time the pounding in his head started to abate. Merlin sighed in relief and closing his eyes to hopefully get some sleep.

Merlin cursed when the pounding in his head started up again.

.

Aglain sighed when he didn't receive any response after trying twice. He hoped that Emrys would arrive with help soon.

"What are you doing?" A weak voice asked.

"You are awake." Aglain nodded in relief looking down at the bright blue eyes.

"Yes I am." Mordred pushed himself up to lean against the bars. He felt against the back of his head and felt a large lump; so knocked out then. "What had you been trying to do?" He'd noticed how his mentor had seemed far away when he regained consciousness.

"I was trying to contact Emrys for help." Aglain replied with a sigh of disappointment.

"What good is Emrys going to do us?" Mordred huffed bitterly. From his mentors tone he could tell he was unsuccessful.

Aglain sighed in understanding. He knew that the young druid had a bad experience with the legendary warlock when he was younger. "What other hope do we have?" Aglain knew that Emrys was their only chance of escaping.

"These are no Camelot Knights. What could they possibly want with us?" Mordred asked, examining there capturers. They wore no colours so they weren't knights of any kind.

"Slavers of some sort I'd gather." Aglain sighed. The moon was high in the sky now. He tried to get some sleep since he was sure by morning they would arrive at their destination. "Rest." Mordred frowned at the suggestion.

o0o

The carriage carrying the druids was rolled into Kelton in the early morning. The seaport was already bustling with people. They could see lines of tents barring the flags of a multitude of kingdoms. It was a confusing sight, were they at some tournament? The carriage finally came to a stop amongst a cluster of wood huts.

Mordred peered out through the bars at the man who was standing waiting. He had shoulder length hair in a low ponytail and was wearing a long leather coat that went down to brush the top of his boots. From the lump under the fabric he could tell he was armed with a fair size sword. There was a confident smirk on the man's face that bothered him.

"I see you've been successful." Rowan greeted his returning men with a smirk at the haul that was brought in. Hopefully there was a few decent sorcerers in the bunch to replace the ones he lost. "I want them brought to the holding cells. I don't want to risk losing them in transportation." Rowan commanded as he mounted his horse and the carriage followed him.

When the carriage was moving Mordred blinked when he noticed a cloaked form in the crowd watching them. After all these years he could still recognize the form anywhere. What was Arthur Pendragon doing at a slavery auction? He sat back deep in thought.

They were led into a dirt arena. There were no spectators just yet so Mordred didn't think they'd be on the block any time soon. Axe dismounted the driver seat once they rolled to a stop and unlocked the door. Along with Dagger he ushered the Druids out of the cage.

When they were all lined up in front of Rowan he found most of them a sorry sight. He rolled his eyes at the failings of his hired help. He really needed to get new underlings. Out of the corner of his eye Rowan noticed a teen helping an old man out of the carriage.

Rowan walked down the line observing the druids. He was sure if any of them could even have half of the Merlin boy's raw power. It was severely doubtful though because it appeared most were short because they were young or so old that they started to shrink.

"What do you want with us?" Mordred demanded as the man walked by them. He could tell he was the one in charge. If he was going to get any answers the leader was the one that was going to tell him.

Stopping in his tricks at the question Rowan turned on his heal to investigate. Taking the teens face in his hands and turned it side to side. He was handsome in a boyish way. He had the same pale skin and dark hair as Merlin; it must be a physical attribute of strong magic. The swirling blue eyes definitely did not seem completely normal, there was power behind them.

When the boy tried to bite his hand Rowan smirked in amusement. "Feisty one aren't you."

"He's a fighter all right. The boy managed to take out about every one of your men single handily, except me of course." Axe exclaimed sticking his chest out with self-confidence in his manner.

"You best keep a sharp eye on him then." Rowan suggested with some bite behind his tone meaning there would be trouble if they lost this one.

"You know I will." Axe clutched the druid boy's upper arm and dragged him towards the stands. A large door was opened below the podium. Mordred was hauled inside to a hallway that's only light came from the cracks between wooden boards that made up the benches.

Mordred was led down the hall and forced into cell that had bars on it. The walls were made of thick stone which he guessed was the foundation of the arena. He was wondering what was going to happen to all the other druids when his question was answered.

They were all ushered in to the same cell as him. It was crowded with all eight of them all in one cell but Mordred guessed they didn't want to spread them out. It would be easier to guard them all like this. They were going to be kept here under the stands until they were needed to perform their demonstration.

.0.

When Merlin woke up he was faced with the smirking face of Jagger. He had complained so much from is headache the night before that the slaver had finally decided to knock him out. All that Jagger had to do was touch one of the ruins on the collar and he had been out. It was frightening how much control the collar truly had on his person.

"What's going on?" Merlin asked as he was hauled to his feet.

"We're heading back to dry land." Jagger exclaimed.

The comment confused Merlin. When he was finally led out of the iron cell and into the rest of his hiding place. He noticed how some of the walls were rounded and the beams were organized in strange patterns. When he passed a window he could hear the sound of waves crashing and smell the salt of what must have been the sea.

Merlin was forced up a short set of steeps up a set of stairs and out a door. His mouth dropped open when he found himself on the deck of a ship. The crew were dashing around preparing for the landing at the dock. He was amazed that he had been on such a large boat this whole time.

They raised the anchor to prepare to sail to shore.

The ship rocked slightly as it cut through the waves. Its large white sails caught the wind so the large vessel glided towards the shore. Once they reached the dock the sails were lowered and the crew threw large ropes off the bow to workers on shore to tie the large ship to the dock.

A plank was lowered so that the passengers would be able to leave the ship.

Merlin stopped and gapped at the sight of the large crowd that had gathered at the port. "What are they all here to see?"

"They came to catch a sight of you." Jagger replied with amusement in his tone. The birdy was too modest. He forced the boy into movement so that they could get this over with. Sell swords fell into step behind them just in case the warlock tied to make a run for it.

There was an extravagant carriage waiting at the bottom for them led by four horses that had blue feather head dresses. It seemed like over kill to Merlin. Jagger opened the door and forced him inside. A footmen snapped the door closed.

Jagger waved his hand out the window to signal to the driver that they were situated. With a whip of his reigns the driver set the carriage into movement. The horse's hoofs mad clip clopping noises as they moved over the pavestones.

"Where are we going?" Merlin demanded anxiously.

"The last stop before the auction tomorrow." Jagger replied gruffly.

The sound of the horse hoofs made changed when they moved from paved stones to dirt. Merlin peeked out the window curiously. He hadn't remembered any dirt roads in Kelton. "What is that?" His jaw dropped when he saw the tall round structure that had stone arches.

"It's the arena you'll be featured in tomorrow." Jagger commented with a delighted smirk. "Usually it's only used for fights that people bet on. A lord had it built a long time ago after a trip to Rome; where he became fascinated with the sport where they have competitors who they call gladiators that fight to the death for glory."

Merlin blinked at the impromptu history lesson he just received. "Why is the auction being held here instead of where it was before?" Merlin asked warily.

"There are so many people interested in you we had to acquire use for it for the evening." Jagger slapped the boy on the back letting out a mocking laugh. The arena could fit a few hundred spectators while the usual market could only fit a couple dozen. Usually there wasn't that much interest in one slave. "A super powerful warlock is a hot commodity. They are so rare these days what with the purge taking out so many magic users and forcing them into hiding."

They passed through the large arch that held the entrance to the arena. A large wooden door was shut behind them so that no one could exit or enter. The large carriage glided to a stop at the far end.

Jagger pushed the door open and climbed out. He expected the birdy to follow his example.

Merlin found himself backing back into the carriage when he saw a blood stain in the dirt. It was proof they truly used this arena for fighting. He wondered what he would be expected to perform. Was he going to be expected to fight someone?

Jagger huffed when he saw the Birdie frozen in the carriage doorway. It appeared that it had finally hit him how close he was to being sold. He signaled for some of the sell swords to grab a hold of the boy because it appear that he was inches away from bolting.

Merlin snapped back to reality when he was grabbed on both sides. "Hey, wha- let me go." He tried to tug his arms out of their hold but he was no match for their superior muscle. If he had control of his magic he would be able to throw them off him easily. Merlin realized how vulnerable he was without access to his powers.

"We can't have you escaping now." Jagger said as he touched a certain ruin on the collar causing the boy to lose consciousness. The boy's dead weight was supported between the two sell-swords. "

…

The nearby door was opened so that Mordred could see outside. Pushing against the bars, he looked curiously at the extravagant carriage that was led into the ring by four horses. Who could possibly be important enough for that much fan fair?

His eyes widened when he saw the familiar lanky form dragged out. Even without the neckerchief Emry -Merlin's form, was unmistakable. He felt his heart skip a beat in dread. This wasn't supposed to happen. Emry's was supposed to bring magic back to the kingdom. At least now he knew why the prince of Camelot was here.

Mordred had to do something. This was the purpose why he had been brought here. He may be looking too much into this; but he was meant to free Emrys so that he could accomplish his destiny. Fate worked in mysterious ways.

Contorting his body Mordred managed to slip his arms to the front of his body. Grabbing a rock from the ground he rubbed the jagged edge against the rope until it fell apart releasing his hands. Quickly he untied his feet and slipped to the shadows by the door.

Mordred grabbed a slaver as he was passing by, slamming him toward him knocking the man out. Feeling around through his clothes he found the keys. Trying out a couple he finally got the door open. None of the druids move to follow him knowing he had a plan.

Making his way out into the hall he snuck the way that they had taken Emry's. After not too long he ran into some of the guards'. Using just his hands he managed to disarm them using his speed while they were slowed down by their bulky armor.

Hearing the commotion Axe ran to see what was happening. Seeing the druid boy from before armed with two swords, he retrieved his battle axe from his back. He use it to block the attack. The boy was good.

Rowan had come to see what had been happening. Realizing that Axe was struggling against the small teen that he towered over he signalled for his kept sorcerer to come forward. Being used by his masters will, Mordred was unarmed.

"This one's a trouble maker." Jagger exclaimed looking at the boy, as he struggle in Axe's grip. "Better put him in the cage with the Birdy."

Mordred smirked as the door closed behind him. He got exactly where he wanted to be. Emrys was laid out across the floor. There was nothing in the cell since they weren't supposed to be here long. Checking to make sure they were alone now, he walked over to stand over the other boy.

It had been quite a few years now since the last time he set eyes on Emrys but it seemed like he hadn't changed a day from the image in his mind. It was like time had not touched him. Living up to his druid name that meant immortal.

Kneeling down Mordred cupped his face, stroking the high cheek bones.

Merlin's eye lashed fluttered open. His brow furrowed as he looked up into familiar blue eyes. "Who?"

"I've grown a lot haven't I?" A young but deep voice asked with amusement in the tone. "You probably don't recognize me from that little druid boy you rescued"

"Mordred?" Merlin asked shocked looking at the teen. The druid had grown into himself since the last time he'd seen him. The baby fat had disappeared almost completely from his face. Trying to calculate in his head he figured that the Druid must be around seventeen now. He could be considered a man now.

"Where are we..." Looking around Merlin realized he was back in an iron cell. It was identical to the one he had been in before. He vaguely remembered his trip off the boat and to the arena. How did he come to be here though with Mordred as his cell mate. "What are you doing here?"

Mordred shrugged his shoulders, knowing this wasn't the best place to have a reunion. "The slavers attacked the camp I'd been living in."

"Why?" Merlin asked, still shocked at suddenly being confronted by the young druid boy.

"Because they needed some magic users quick because apparently they lost theirs, except for you." Mordred explained the slavers reasoning behind the sudden unexpected attack. It was wide know knowledge that there was a druid camp in those woods but people usually didn't bother them.

"The others escaped." Merlin sighed in relief that Kayna, Bayn, and Faber were away from this place. In a short amount of time he had grown fond of them.

"Yes. I suspect it was your prince who freed them." Mordred sighed and rolled his eyes at the thought. It seemed that Arthur Pendragon had a saving people thing.

"What do you mean?" Merlin looked at the druid in confusion.

"When we were being brought in this morning, I saw a cloaked form that I swear was the prince of Camelot." Mordred enlightened on his reason for believing that.

"Arthur is here!" Merlin smiled brightly after hearing that.

"I'm sure that Arthur had tried to rescue you yesterday but you had probably already been moved to where ever they placed you for safe keeping already." Mordred contemplated out loud how the prince ended up freeing the other magic users.

"Are the knights with him?" Merlin asked curiously. He didn't think they even knew where he was so hearing that Arthur had been spotted was a huge relief. His friends cared enough about him to come to his rescue.

"I don't know?" Mordred huffed displeasure. "I only saw him for a second but it was definitely the blonde form I remember from my child hood."

"Yes, Arthur stands out in a crowd." Merlin exclaimed, looking at the druid through his eyelashes.

Merlin didn't know how he felt about the return of Mordred. Kilgharrah had said that it had been predicted that the young druid boy will grow up to be Arthur's doom. The Teenage form in front of him had brought the fact closer to home. He'd fully gone through puberty.

Mordred wasn't a little boy anymore.

…**TBC**


	6. Glue

Sorry it has taken me so long to get the next part up. We've been renovating my house so it has been a little chaotic. Been painting walls every day and had to sleep on the couch the past week. Also been working on several stories at once. Decided I would work on my Merlin ones first.

I ended up spliting this chapter in two because it was getting too long. The next chapter is also basically done. Only the conclusion and epilogue left. Two more chapters to look forward to.

* * *

**Bird In A Cage**

_Glue_

**o0o**

"We have to get Merlin back." Gwaine said agitatedly as he paced back and forth in front of the fire. The rescue plan the night before had not been successful. Another day gone and they were no closer to getting the servant back. They were back at their camp debating what to do next. There wasn't much time left. "The whole kingdom rests on this."

"Merlin's personally important to me, but I don't think the kingdom would fall without him." Arthur pointed out pessimistically. He missed his manservant desperately. He thought Gwaine was blowing his importance out of proportion though.

"That's not strictly true. Merlin is the glue that holds Camelot together." Lancelot butted in. He knew a lot more than anyone else what the warlock had done. "Whenever there was something you couldn't defeat, Merlin took care of it. He's saved your life constantly without any reward."

"I can function without Merlin." Arthur claimed, crossing his arms defensively.

"You can't even properly get dressed without Merlin." Gwaine raised a skeptical eyebrow. From the first moment he had met the prince and his servant in that tavern fight, there was an unmistakable bond between them. Whatever one of them was bad at something the other was good at. They completed each other. He couldn't imagine one without the other.

Percy just nodded his head in agreement.

"It sounds like he would be dead ten times over." Kayna whispered to Faber. She shrunk back when all the knights turned their eyes towards her. She hadn't meant for any of them to actually hear her opinion.

"I was fine before Merlin. I'm not completely dependent on him." Arthur claimed though he was doubting himself now. He couldn't believe that he had grown so reliant on Merlin without even noticing it.

"Ungrateful." Bayn mumbled under his breath just loud enough for the prince to hear.

Had he been taking Merlin for granted Arthur contemplated. It was hard to imagine the time before Merlin. He felt like he was a completely different person now. He had real friends instead of minions. "I'll admit, I wasn't the best person before Merlin arrived in Camelot."

"From what Merlin was saying, he's been chipping away at you for years." Bayn broadcasted. "He said when you first met, you were a right prat."

"Sounds like Merlin." Gwaine smirked at the insult to his prince.

"I guess Merlin succeeded." Arthur said. He tried to remember back to how he acted before me met Merlin.

"Enough getting side tracked." Lancelot "It seems like there's no way to reach Merlin in his current position." He had scoped the area earlier and the arena was heavily guarded.

"Your right." Arthur agreed. "We might have to wait until the arena has filled with people so that the guards will be more spread out." He suggested tactfully.

"That seems a little last minute." Elyan thought uncomfortable with the tight time frame.

"It may be the only way we have a chance." Arthur thought strategically. They had to remember they were only five knights in all. There was also the three sorcerers but he wasn't sure how useful they might be in a fight. "Unless we manage to get more men."

"Didn't you say Camelot was coming to this thing?" Faber contemplated out loud. "Couldn't you compel more men to join you from the troop?"

"I have been the head knight for a few years now. They are all loyal to me. But-" Arthur shook his head. "I do not think they would turn against their king to save a sorcerer. Even if it is Merlin." All the knights were familiar with his manservant.

"Then you'd have to get the king on board too." Faber suggested like it was an easy feat.

"That's crazy." Arthur snapped at the idea. "My father has been at war with magic for the past twenty five years. There's no way my father will change his mind after a short talk."

"He's right. There is no talking sense with Uther Pendragon." Even Lancelot agreed.

Faber looked at the prince with intent. "If you want Merlin back in Camelot, you're going to have to fight for him."

Arthur wasn't sure if the healer was trying to force his hand or not. It was true his father would never allow Merlin back once he discovered the servant had magic. Uther would probably chase Merlin to the ends of the earth for deceiving him for years. "I try to talk to the king but I don't think I'll succeed."

"If we can't gather more men we'll just have to follow your plan and break Merlin out tomorrow right before the auction is to begin." Lancelot proposed. "I'm sure the slave stock will still be heavily guarded but we will have more of a chance. We'll have a fight ahead of us."

"Do you think Merlin can create some force field to protect himself?" Gwaine asked with his arms spread wide. "I wouldn't want him to be injured in the cross fire."

"I don't know." Lancelot shrugged. He had no doubt a spell like that existed though he had no idea if Merlin knew how to perform it. The warlock was powerful but he hadn't been professionally trained. "You guys keep looking to me like I'm the Merlin expert."

"You've been able to answer all our questions so far." Arthur pointed out. He thought he knew Merlin best. Now that Lancelot was revealing what he knew Arthur contemplated if he knew his servant at all.

"That's just a coincidence." Lancelot replied exasperated. Most of what he knew was what Merlin told him in passing because he wasn't present at the time. He hadn't been back long. "Remember I was away from Camelot for a long time."

"Yeah me too." Gwaine nodded in understanding. "Being banished will do that to you."

o0o

Mordred woke up with a jolt when he heard the sound of a door opening. He propped himself up with his elbows. It was still pitch dark in the cell because there was no window. The only light came from the crack under the door. It must be morning already. He could just make out in the dark Emrys form still asleep not too far away from him. Mordred rubbed the ache in his neck. It had been supremely uncomfortable to sleep on the stone floor of the cell.

Not long after the slider at the bottom of the door was opened and two bowls of food were pushed in. Along with a small candle that lite the cell. There was a severe difference in the quality of the sustenance. He could tell which one was meant for him. Mordred had not proven himself to be valuable yet. Looking over he could see that Emrys had also woken up. He seemed to have fared a lot better with their meager accommodations.

Collecting the closest bowl, Merlin ate his portion with no real trouble. It was better than Gaius's cooking at any rate. It was quite good actually for food in a cell. Looking over the rim he could see Mordred wrinkling his nose at his own bowl. "Not up to your standards?"

Mordred scoffed in disgust at the unnameable grey substance. He guessed it was supposed to some sort of porridge. He pushed the bowl away from himself not risking ingesting it. "We have to make a plan of escape." Mordred exclaimed looking around their cell in discontentment.

"What am I supposed to do?" Merlin snapped in frustration leaning against the wall. He was now wearing so much magic suppressing accessories, he could hardly feel it anymore. "I'm locked up tighter than the Camelot dungeons." Which truthfully weren't that hard to escape unless you didn't have magic.

Mordred bit his lip in thought, looking at the heavy shackles that adorned Emrys. "These collars and chains mostly work from the ruins on them right?" He asked, not needing an answer knowing he's right. Picking up a rock he tossed it up and down. "We just have to change them a little."

"You're going to do it, with a blunt rock?" Merlin lifted one raven eyebrow in disbelief.

Turning the rock in his hand Mordred frowned when he realized that it was too smooth. Searching the ground again he found one that had a satisfying sharp point. He rubbed it against the stone floor to sharpen it. "Let me see?"

Pursing his lips, Merlin looked suspiciously at the druid boy. He held his hands out uncertainly.

Mordred placed them in his lap so that he could get a good look. He stroked his hands over the ruins that were carved into the metal. Aglain had taught him how to read ruins when he was young so he understood what they meant. He contemplated how to change the meaning behind them to work in their favor.

Merlin blinked as Mordred held his wrist in place so he could carve extra lines, stroking subconsciously as he concentrated. Merlin shifted uncomfortably. "Are you sure this will work?"

"It should, but we won't truly know until we're out of this iron box." Mordred blew on the shackles to get rid of the metal shavings. Making Emrys skin prickle. Furrowing his brow he carved another line. "I think that's done. Let me see the collar now."

Merlin shifted around to his knees. He turned his back so that the part featuring the majority of the etchings was showing. He shivered as he felt the druid's fingers stroke across the collar examining the ruins. He tense when he felt the pressure from the rock.

"Relax." Mordred exclaimed with a roll of his eyes. He pulled the candle closer to himself so he could see better.

"It's just uncomfortable alright." Merlin sighed slumping from his stiff position. He could feel the other boy's breath against the skin of his neck.

"How do you want to do it then?" Mordred asked with exasperation.

"I'll lay down on the floor." Merlin cradled his head in his arms as he laid out. When the druid went back to carving it was much better since he had proper support.

They heard someone coming so Mordred scrambled away to the far wall.

The guard looked in to see one prisoner with his arms crossed leaning against the wall but the other was lying face down on the floor. "Is he alright?"

"I believe he is asleep." Mordred replied flippantly like he was indifferent.

o0o

Uther rode into Kelton followed by a large procession of knights. He had received the missive a few nights ago. He had no time to spare before he gathered his knights together to leave. It was a far distance so it would take a couple days to arrive. They had to hurry if they wanted to arrive on time to put their own bid in.

It made Uther smile when he thought of how Olaf must have reacted when he received his own missive along with all the other kings of the land. The king of Mercia was probably in a rage at not immediately being offered the chance to have the sorcerer join his own court. Slavers had no loyalty to their country or sovereign though. They cared about money more than anything else.

Usually Mercia did not invite foreign kingdoms into their lands to bid in their auctions. They had a precarious system in place between nobles and magical slaves. Other kingdoms had laws in place that made it illegal or unethical to keep magical or unpaid servant in their homes.

Uther believed that magic users were too dangerous to be kept alive. No matter how useful they may seem. It was claimed that one magical slave was as good as ten normal men.

The collars that kept them in check had fascinated him ever since word of their invention had traveled by word across the border. It was a new invention that only a decade old at most. It had originally been made for his own use but Uther had not even granted the inventor an audience because he had not believed that such a contraption could ever be truly successful.

After the man must have seeked a more susceptible audience in Mercia. Who were known for the reverence for magic users. It had taken only a few years for it to be in popular use amongst the noble class.

When they arrived in the main square a man came to greet them.

"I'm so glad that you could make it your highness." Rowan bowed to the king of Camelot. As soon as he saw the man decked out in red with the dragon insignia he knew who he was looking at. King Uther Pendragon had a cold look in his eyes.

Uther sneered when he caught sight of a slave with a metal collar around their neck standing behind the slaver. It marked the man as dangerous in his eyes. He knew what damage the unassuming man was capable of if allowed to run rampart.

"Just show us where we can set up camp for the night." Uther ignored the man trying to introduce himself.

"Follow me." Rowan led the procession to a surrounding field that was close to the arena. Within minutes the servants were constructing the red canvas tents with the Camelot dragon insignia.

Rowan sighed in relief as he retreated back to the main square to await the next procession. King Uther was an intimidating man and he didn't want to get on his bad side. Just as he was arriving he spotted a group with the snake insignia of the kingdom of Essetir approaching.

"So glad that you could make it to our auction." Rowan bowed respectfully though he doubted this king would win.

"Where's this legendary sorcerer?" Cenred inquired as his troop was led to their lodges. He was followed by two women.

"He's being kept in a safe place until the auction." Rowan answered, not giving any more details.

o0o

Elyan rode his horse back to camp quickly. He had been monitoring the main square for any activity. "The king just arrived." Elyan announced as he dismounted.

Arthur gulped nervously. It was time he talked with his father. He would need a little bit of help first. Arthur snuck to where Elyan said Camelot had set camp. Looking out for his second knight. When he spotted Leon who was on patrol, Arthur waited until he got close enough to his position before he pulled him into the bushes.

The knight was going to yell for help before his assailant pulled his hood down. "Arthur." Leon exclaimed when he realized who had grabbed him. "The king got a message of a great sorcerer. This doesn't have anything to do..."

"Yes, it's Merlin." Arthur cut the knight off.

"Merlin has magic?" Leon asked with astonishment.

"Yes and I don't care. He's my best friend, I can't leave him to his fate." Arthur exclaimed. "I need your help." Arthur was going to try and do the impossible task; talk his father in a different direction.

"What is it you need?" Leon asked.

.0.

There was nothing left to do except wait.

Merlin examined Mordred under his eyelashes from the other end of the room. He was sure from that distance it would look like he had drifted off to asleep. Merlin put up all the metaphorical barriers he can. Trying to block Mordred from his mind.

Kilgharrah had told him he had to kill him a decade ago. But Mordred was a child then and he just couldn't do it. He didn't kill children no matter what they might do in the future. They were innocent until proven guilty.

Merlin didn't know if he could even do it today. Now that the druid boy was of age he should feel none of the misgivings of killing a child. As far as he knew Mordred had not committed any crime as of yet. It didn't seem right to kill someone before they even did anything wrong. Kilgharrah told him that Mordred had to die before he could do anything did anything.

There was nothing sinister about Mordred. As far as Merlin could observe he was well mannered and talented. Maybe there was still time to set the boy on the right path. Why would he be shown the future unless to stop it.

Mordred sat against the wall uneasily with his arms crossed. He wasn't fooled into thinking that Emrys was actually asleep. His breathing was much too deep to be in rest. He wondered what the warlock was thinking about. Emery's had been giving him the cold shoulder and Mordred didn't know why. "I am not a child anymore." Mordred tries to say menacingly but just comes off as petulant. "I need you to take me seriously."

"You expect me to just let you take the lead on this whole thing?" Merlin grumbled not used to having to follow orders from anyone else but Arthur. He turned his back on the druid.

"Don't ignore me." He turned the older boy forcefully. He realized even though he was shorter he was a lot stronger physically than Emery's. The fight had escalated quickly.

"What do you want from me?" Merlin snapped meeting the angry blue eyes.

Mordred felt a strong desire to hold all of Emery's attention. Grabbing the nape of the taller boy's neck he tugged him down till their lips touched. He felt the older boy flounder in his grip. Mordred could believe despite their age difference that he had more sexual experience than Merlin. In the druid camp the girls had outnumbered the boys so he'd had lots of experience once he'd reached puberty.

The boy gave off this essence of innocence like a unicorn. Mordred bit Emrys lips making his mouth open so he could slip his tong in.

Merlin gasped as his mouth was plundered by the druid. He had only ever shared a sweet kiss with Freya before. This was completely different, it was filled with passion and aggression. Even though he was taller than the druid Merlin was on his toes.

Mordred felt such confusion when he was in the presence of The Great Emrys. He wasn't sure if it was just the power he possessed that made him so attracted to the warlock. Mordred had a crush on Emrys as a child. The thought had passed his mind of being the center of his attention. Of having someone of that much power to himself is an intoxicating one.

Merlin finally tugged himself away from the other boy. "No." He gasped as he walked to the other side of the iron cell to put some distance between them. He looked the druid with wary eyes. Mordred defiantly wasn't a little boy any more.

He felt like he had just betrayed Arthur for some reason.

Mordred panted as he leaned against the wall, knocking his head against it. "Sorry." He didn't know what got into him to make him attack the warlock. It was such an impulsive move. "I'm sorry. Can we just for forget that ever happen and concentrate on the situation?" He gestured to the cell.

Merlin nodded since he didn't really have a choice. They needed to get out of here. He avoided making direct eye contact.

"I'm not going to have any use of my magic, so most of the escape is up to you." Mordred tried to get across. "I'll try and get a weapon and protect your back." He didn't want the same thing that happened to him before.

Mordred noticed that Emrys blushed brightly when he looked at him.

o0o

Uther had just dismissed his guards from his tent so he could go to sleep. When a man in a green cloak appeared in the middle of the king's tent. "Who are you?" Uther asked pulling out a sword that had been resting on the table. "What do you want?"

"Father." Arthur flipped his hood down so he could see his identity. He didn't want to be stabbed because he had been mistaken as an assassin.

"Arthur, what are you doing here?" Uther dropped his sword from his defensive position. "You are supposed to be investigating problems at Camelot's borders."

"I was. We were tracking some slavers who were kidnapping Camelot citizens, which led me here." Arthur replied. "They took Merlin."

"Why would they do that? He's an awful servant." Uther scoffed. "You should easily be able to buy him back if you so please."

"He's the reason we're all here." Arthur tried to push his father in the right direction with actually saying the words out loud.

"You mean." Uther's brow furrowed and his lips thinned. "Are you telling me that your manservant Merlin, is supposed to be the most powerful sorcerer to have ever existed?" He growled as he inquired.

"Supposedly." Arthur sighed in defeat.

"Did you know your manservant was a sorcerer?" Uther demanded with suspicion. There was no way the boy was smart enough to hide his magic himself. He must have had some accomplices.

"No. I was just as surprised to hear this as you were." Arthur replied, trying to hide the disappointment in his voice that Merlin hadn't trusted him with his secret. "It was as much of a surprises to me as it was for you to hear." He didn't want his father to get the wrong idea. That Merlin and himself were performing magical acts behind his back. "Merlin has never done anything to harm us all these years."

"You don't know that." Uther snapped. "He could have been working on something behind the scenes."

"He has worked in Camelot for five years now. If he wanted us dead all he would have had to do is sit back and do nothing."Arthur sighed in exasperation. "You can't allow Cenred, or any other kingdom to have power over Merlin." Arthur demanded with conviction.

"Why do you think I'm here?" Uther replied with a scoff. "I will win the auction, and Merlin will be taken back to Camelot to be executed."

"No! That isn't what I want." Arthur yelled in dread at the mere thought. That was the worst imaginable outcome.

"He's too dangerous to be allowed to live." Uther snapped with conviction. "I don't care if you thought this boy was your friend. He's evil."

"This is what drove Morgana away, your hatred." Arthur snapped, hitting his father where it would hurt. "She knew you would never give her a chance so she ran away. Her hatred of you ate away at her spirit."

Uther raised his chin with superiority. "I will not take your words to heart. I know this sorcerer has enchanted you. Gradually over the years he has tried to steer you in a false direction. When this boy is gone you will see that you aren't in your right frame of mind." Uther claimed with confidence.

"I am not enchanted!" Arthur snapped with frustration. Every time he fell out of line his father believed there was a higher power involved. It couldn't be him speaking his own mind because it wasn't what Uther approved of. "I'm going to get Merlin out of here. Even if I have to go through you to do it."

"Guards! Restrain him." Uther commanded, raising his voice so it could be heard through the canvas of the tent. A dozen knights swarmed the tent at their king's command. They froze when they realized who it was that the king wanted confined. Over the years since Arthur became crown prince all the knights had grown to respect and follow his orders.

While the knights were trying decided if they were going to defy their king's command, Arthur snuck out the tent. Arthur evaded the knights and ran from where the Camelot succession had set up camp. He dashed out of Kelton back to safety.

**...TBC**


	7. Darkest Hate

Took me too long to get this up considering it has been basically written since November.

Managed to finish the renovation on my bed room. All the painting is done, new window and floor is in, chandelier is up. My new beds is one of this hidden beds so it's a desk that folds down into a bed. Finished painting the deck and the new patio furniture is on it now. So basically I've just been doing home renovations.

Also i went to Disney World about two weeks ago. When I came back I had a job interview. Still waiting to hear back from them. I'll work on my fanfictions until then.

Visit my Tumblr: .com

* * *

**Bird In A Cage**

_Dark Hate_

**o0o**

They could hear the sound of footsteps above them signifying that nobles had started to fill the stands. The jingling of the keys announced Rowan's presence before his face appeared in the peek hole of the iron cell. The hinges squeaked as the door was opened. "It's show time boys."

The two sorcerers didn't move at the announcement. Merlin had been hoping that Arthur would have come for him by now. It was hard to believe that the time for the auction was already hear.

"Better make you two prettier." Rowan exclaimed after examining they disheveled appearances. Taking two bundles from a servant, he threw one at each of their feet. Their thread bare clothes would not show their best sides.

Curiously Merlin opened the bundle to see new clothes. It wasn't that surprising since Merlin was still wearing the white outfit from when he was going to be auctioned off as a sex slave. He had never bothered to change into the other blue sorcerer robes because the fabric seemed stiff. The white cloth was soft against his skin so Merlin had chosen comfort over fashion.

Mordred raised an eyebrow when he realized they had given him some leather armor. He guessed they were dressing them the way they wanted the audience to perceive them. Mordred had not used that much magic in their presence but he had presented his fighting skills while trying to escape. He was supposed to be a druid warrior while Emrys was to be an ancient powerful force.

Peeking over to see what Emrys received curiously. It was a deep royal blue with ruins stitched into the fabric. Recognizing them as ceremonial robes that used to be worn by priests of the old religion. It was meant to station Merlin as above the other sorcerer's in power level. Mordred wondered where the slavers had come across such a robe. They were very rare since the great purge.

With a snap of his fingers, Rowan signaled two female servants he had brought along to step forward.

Just as Merlin was going to swindle the robe over his clothes and be done with it; two women suddenly descended on him. One with a bucket of water and the other with a comb. His shirt disappeared quickly so they could scrub his chest and arms. At least he was allowed to keep his pants on this time. The water in the bucket was slowly turning brown. Merlin must have been dirtier than he thought.

Once he was properly groomed the inner lighter robe was draped over Merlin's body and tied intricately. The fabric was cool against his heated skin. Merlin swore it must have been made of silk. His arms were forced up once again so that they could slide the heavier top coat over top. A leather belt was secured around his waist to finish the assomble.

He thought that would be it when Merlin was forced into a chair behind him that appeared out of nowhere. The two women descended on him with powders and paints. He wasn't a women so Merlin didn't see the point of it. Merlin shut his eyes and wished it to just be over. After what seemed like an eternity but was really only five minutes, Merlin was finally released.

The two women collected their tools and left the way they came. Rowan nodded at both of them at a job well done. He had a smirk of amusement on his face at the dazed look on the warlock's face. Finally the boy actually looked like the prize he was meant to be.

Merlin felt like he had just been prepared to be sold into the sex slave again. He would never get used to others dressing him. At least there was no painful hair removal this time. Looking down at himself since he had no mirror to see what had been done to him. Merlin blushed when he realized why they had to wash his chest too.

Mordred had been left on his own to figure out how to put on the armor he had been supplied with. It took him a while to shift through his own bundle that held a dozen different pieces. He was successful with the first few layers but struggled with the smaller intricate parts. It was hard to reach a strap himself to secure his shoulder cover.

"Let me get that." Emrys appeared suddenly beside him. Mordred's eyes widened at the huge difference in the boys appearance. He had been so concentrated on getting into his own armor he hadn't been watching what had been applied to Emrys. The robe dipped almost to his navel. There was a dark coal painted around his eyes that made the blue pop, some rouge had been applied to his lips as well.

Since Merlin had been dressed by two professionals it had taken no time at all. Noticing the accessing look the Druid was shooting him Merlin blushed deeply. Quickly with nimble fingers he secured Mordred's armor into place. After years of helping Arthur it had become a mindless task. Stepping away quickly as soon as he was done.

"Perfect." Rowan smirked as he looked over the two slaves. They would make him a lot of money. Banging on the cell door he signaled they were ready. The door was opened by Axe who instructed some sell swords to safeguard the slaves.

Once they were over the thresh hold of the iron box Merlin felt an immediate difference. He wasn't sure if it was just because he was out of the oppressive environment or if it was actually because of the different ruins on the shackles. Mordred was searching his face for any reaction so Merlin shrugged to signal he wasn't sure yet.

The cheers of the crowds could be heard through the walls. Guards bracketed them in on both sides as they were steered through the halls. "Remember the plan." Mordred whispered to Merlin's ear as they were being led to the entrance to the arena.

.0.

They packed up camp not planning to spend another night there. Today they would be leaving Kelton hopefully with Merlin in tow. Arthur steered his small party towards the showground. It was easy to hide amongst the excited crowd. They couldn't wait any longer to make their move. It was cutting it too close as it is.

From the tree line they observed the outer entrance to the holding cells under the stands. There was no way they could slip through the entrance directly in the arena unnoticed. The other day they had scouted the area to figure out the layout. Then there had been about ten guards but now there were only two currently. All the others were spread out in the stadium area observing the nobles and peasants take their seats.

After Arthurs signal they made their move. Slipping out of the tree cover Arthur along with Fabian, Bayne, and Kayna to gain their attention. While the guard's eyes were still on the approaching party the knights approached from the side. Swiftly knocking them both out.

Gwaine stepped over the unconscious guards and tried the door. Surprisingly it wasn't locked and swung open without any squeaky hinge to give them away. "That was way too easy." Gwaine leaned in checking for a legion of guards to come pouring out. Surprisingly it looked empty.

"Don't look a gifted horse in the mouth." Arthur pushed past the knight. Checking himself just in case. It wouldn't be good to be caught off guard by an ambush just because he trusted someone else's word. They were in a small entry way with two hallways leading off it. He wasn't sure which way to turn. Straining his ears he could hear anything either way. They might have to split up. The other creeped in behind him. All the knights had their swords out prepared for a fight.

"Merlin!" Gwaine called tired of just standing there and doing nothing. If there was going to be a fight he wanted to do it already.

"Shh, you don't know who might hear you." Arthur admonished, throwing his hand over his loud mouth. He expected to hear the clinking of armor heading towards them but there was nothing of the sort. All the guards must be busy elsewhere.

"Over here." They could hear a distant voice yell. Since it was female it wasn't who they had hoped cautiously they moved down the hall to the right. When they entered another cell block, there was a cell full to the brim of people of all ages. "Thank god." A young women who was clutching the bars exclaimed with relief. She must be the one who had yelled.

"You're all druids?" Elyan exclaimed dropping his sword from its defensive position with a furrowed brow. The clothing and marking gave them away as such. He hadn't been expecting to see so many entrapped here.

"The slavers came to our camp in the night." A middle age women replied nodding her head.

Anxiously Arthur searched through the faces for his manservant. He wasn't there. It was stupid of him not to realize that when Merlin didn't loudly announce himself. "Does anyone know where they are keeping a boy named Merlin?"

"They have already taken Emrys out into the arena." An old man answered near the back. He seemed kind of familiar to Arthur for some reason. They must have crossed paths at one point in the past.

"Who's Emrys?" Gwaine asked confused. He had never heard the name before.

"It is young Merlin's Druid name." The old man replied. "He is destined to help bring magic back to the kingdom along with the Once and Future King."

"Okay." Arthur exclaimed since he didn't understand the rambling of the old man.

"Get us out of here." A young boy cried with a trembling lip.

Looking around for the keys they didn't see any. "We'll have to run back and fetch the keys from the guards."

They didn't have the time to spare to break all the captives out and get them away safely. Arthur couldn't risk his chance to rescue Merlin. Getting an idea in his head he turned to Bayn, Faber, and Kayna. "I'm leaving it up to you three to get the druids out of here."

"It was a pleasure to get to know you." Faber offered his hand in farewell.

"You too." Arthur shook hands with each of them. He never thought he would ever be saying that to any magic user. This experience had made him realize sorcerers were just like anyone else, just with supernatural powers.

"Just get Merlin out of here." Bayn squeezed his hand tightly.

"I plan to." Arthur shook his hand to get the feeling back into it. Turning around he signaled to the knights they should get going. As they walked through the hall they could hear Bayn announce "Everyone stand back." It was followed by a small explosion.

.0.

The guards had led them to their balcony. Morgana and her sister sat amongst king Cenred's men. Morgause pursed her lips as the king ran his hands over her knuckles. She allowed it because he was still useful to her. Morgana could see from her seat that the arena was quickly filling up. It seemed to be well planned down to the smallest detail. This was more than just a simple auction. It had turned into a show.

Morgana smirked as she spotted Uther in the stands only a few rows down and over. He paled a little at the sight of her. They hadn't seen each other since she had been chased out of Camelot after her failed takeover. There was a dark hate swirling in her belly.

For years she had to put up with Uther's hard hypocritical views on magic. While fearing for herself as her own powers started to develop. It wasn't until Morgause had found her and showed her the way. Her sister had taught her that magic could be a strong protector. Magic was a powerful weapon in its own right when used in the right way.

Trumpets sounded to alert the crowd that the auction would be starting. The slavers took to the stage dragging a slender figure in chains between them. He was wearing a rich blue robe that made him look regal despite the chains. The shackles and chains looked sturdy as the warlock struggled under their weight.

As soon as the warlock raised his head from looking at the ground Morgana's long nails dug deep into the skin of her palms. 'It couldn't be.' Morgana seethed in fury in her seat.

The invite had stated that it was a very powerful sorcerer but had never mentioned a name. She knew that slavers liked to think of their haul like cattle and number them off so that was no surprise. It was her half-brother's manservant standing up for auction. Morgana could never mistake those features for anyone but Merlin.

The slavers made no mistake Morgana was sure. They had ways to test power levels and would have checked multiple times before making such a big scene about it. She wanted to scream; clumsy innocent Merlin had been foiling her plans this whole time.

That only meant that Merlin was really the Legendary Emrys all along. He was only a manservant so Merlin had an excuse to stay by the prince of Camelot's side with no question asked. She knew Arthur couldn't have been able to escape all those treacherous situations without help.

Morgana should have suspected Merlin when he stopped her plans every time. How could Merlin have known Morgana was the power source for the knights of Essetir. He had no reason to suspect her as the culprit. Unless someone else told him.

Morgause clutched her arm to stop her from making a scene. Morgana was sure her sister must have realized the same thing.

.0.

Arthur moved along the edges of the ring with his knights. It appeared they had taken too long since the auction had already begun.

They could see Merlin standing on a podium on a stage. The robes they had given the servant made him seem ethereal and powerful. For the first time Arthur could actually believe that Merlin could be dangerous. Merlin held his head high as he stood above the slavers.

The crowd jostled around them as everyone tried to get a better look.

Most of the occupants were present out of curiosity. Rumors had spread around to the surrounding villages of the legendary warlock. The slavers had charged them a small fee to be able to observe the presentation of power. They were kept far from the royal boxes though.

Arthur wished they had made a mistake because nothing would ever be the same. They would no longer be master and servant. He was in total denial until Merlin's eyes glowed gold and mayhem ensued.

.0.

Merlin took a deep breath as he stood in the middle of the ring. He felt around for his magic to see if Mordred's plan was successful. Finding the familiar spark he concentrated on it. Fanning the flames of his powers.

The announcer's voice was like background noise. When it seemed appropriate n the dialogue; Merlin threw his head back and roared to the sky. The crowd all thought it was part of the demonstration but Jagger and Rowan frowned with worry.

He was commanded to throw a fire ball at the target next. Merlin felt his body reacting and the energy formed in his hands. With a lot of concentration he managed to change the trajectory at the last minute. The fire flew towards where the slavers were stationed. They just managed to jump out of the way.

The crowd scattered realizing the sorcerer wasn't fully under control. As everyone stampeded to the exit Morgana made her way down the stands. Pushing anyone who got in her way aside with her magic. Once she got to the edge Morgana jumped down from the stands realizing this was her chance.

As Merlin was climbing down from the podium he had to dodge Morgana's attack because he didn't have full control of his magic yet. He had to depend on normal reflexes. There would be no slowing down of time.

Mordred realized he was no use to Emrys without his magic. Tackling a near by sell sword with his bare hands, Mordred knocked the sword from his hands. Sneaking up from behind, he took the sword to Rowans neck and pressed threatening. "Release me." Mordred commanded threateningly holding one of his wrists in the mans face so he would get what he meant.

With only self-preservation on the mind Rowan signaled to his own kept sorcerer. Who with a flick of his wrist caused the collar and shackles to drop off. Taking the slavers sword Mordred pushed him away from himself. Rowan crawled out of harm's way like the coward he was.

Throwing up a shield Merlin blocked the sorceress's attacks. With only pure luck on his side he managed to step out of the way of an attack from the side. Turning he saw it was Morgause throwing spells from the edge of the stand. It was allot harder to keep his shield up with his attention divided.

Rushing to help Arthur pushed his way through the panicking crowd. Merlin needed his full concentration if he was going to defend against his sister. The knights attempted to follow but the crowd had grown too thick to easily be able to maneuver, the prince just managed to slip through. Once Arthur was in the open he unsheathed his sword.

Hearing approaching footsteps, Morgause just managed to pull out her own sword to stop the prince's swing just in time before it connected with her body. "I was wondering when you were going to pop up." She pushed the sword forward knocking the prince away from her. "You're like a shadow that follows Merlin around."

"I could say the same about you and Morgana." Arthur replied holding his sword up. Swishing her sword Morgause smirked victoriously like she had already won. Arthur blocked and parried. Not giving her time to stop cast any spells on him or Merlin.

Morgause gasped in pain when a sword pushed through her abdomen. The sorceress collapsed revealing Gwaine behind her with the most serious expression the prince had ever seen. "I didn't think this was a time to fight fair."

Casting one spell after another, Morgana managed to send an attack that finally clipped Merlin. Who had been quickly dodging everything she threw at him like time was slowed down. The warlock flew backwards in the air and rolled to a stop.

"Merlin!" Arthur cried when he saw his best friend fall. It was too high to jump from his position in the stands. Quickly he ran to the nearby stairs that led to the arena floor. As they descended they lost sight of the ring.

Morgana stalked over, like a cat with a mouse Morgana like to play with her food. She would not give Merlin a slow death. A blast landed in front of Morgana stopping her in her tracks. Looking up she narrowed her eyes at the teenager.

"That was a warning shot." Mordred maneuvered himself between the sorceress and the warlock as she examined him. Morgana had been so nice to him when he'd been a child. Mordred didn't want to have to kill her.

"Mordred, it is so nice to see you again." Morgana sneered with narrowed eyes that were measuring his worth to her.

"You don't want to do this." Mordred announced not dropping his defensive position. He tried to talk her down. "Emrys will bring magic back to Albion."

"That old prophesy." Morgana scorned with distain. "It will never come to be. Merlin has been in Camelot for years and he has never made any head way."

"Change takes time." Mordred replied, trying to talk her around. He had felt the same way all these years. It took him growing up to realize that you had to nurture an idea until it came to fruitation. Merlin had been molding Arthur into the king that Albion actually needed.

"After what Merlin did to me. He can't be allowed to live." Morgana used her powers to push him out of the way. Mordred fell heavily to the ground but was uninjured otherwise. Stalking by the sorceress grew closer to Emrys unconscious form.

Mordred realized there was nothing left of that smart young woman she had once been. She had been corrupted by hatred. It would be best if he put her out of her misery so she couldn't hurt anyone else. Hopefully she'd find peace in Avalon.

Climbing back to his feet. Mordred concentrated his power into one fingertip. Aiming Mordred shot it directly at Morgana. It went right through her back and into her heart to give Morgana a fast painless death.

Aim for the heart was what Aglain taught him. Mordred was sure that wasn't exactly what his mentor had meant. Emotions were people's greatest weakness. He'd never been the best Druid in that regard; not killing anyone when they were attacking you never made sense to him.

By the time the prince and his knights had reemerged it was all over.

-A distinct shadow flew over them. Mordred could hear wings beating. It couldn't be what he thought it was. Everyone in the middle of fleeing stopped to gawk at the mythical creature.

Suddenly a dragon swooped down from the sky and scooped Merlin up into its claws. Mordred watched wide eyed as the mystical creature made away with Emrys.

.0.

Arthur dashed out of the arena. He threw himself up onto his horse and galloped after the beast. He couldn't believe the dragon was still alive. It was another thing that Merlin had lied to him about. What else had happened that he'd been oblivious to?

The knights could see the shadow on the ground so they followed it. There was nothing else they could do. They had nothing to knock it from the sky.

The dragon landed in front of them. If Arthur didn't know better he'd say the beast had an amused expression.

"Young Prince-ling." The dragon's deep voice addressed him.

"You can talk." Arthur gasped in shock. Realizing that wasn't what was important hear. "What do you want with Merlin?"

"We are kin." Kilgharrah spoke. "It is in his blood. His father was a dragon lord and so he has followed." Placing the unconscious warlock before him. Arthur sighed in relief when he saw Merlin's chest steadily rising and falling. He was still alive.

-Mordred came galloping in on a horse he'd commandeered. Before it fully came to a stop he dismounted and ran over to Emrys unconscious form. A sword was placed to his neck before he could touch him, looking up he met the suspicious eyes of the prince of Camelot. "I'm just going to heal him."

"Do I know you?" Arthurs asked feeling a niggling of familiarity at the piercing blue eyes.

"Don't you recognize me Arthur?" Mordred asked with an amused smirk.

Arthur looked at the teen in confusion. The boy had black hair with pale skin and blue eyes. He looked like he could be Merlin's brother though he knew his manservant was an only child. A memory from long ago came back making a connection in his mind. The boy was part of the druids that had been captured. "Mordred?" His sword arm grew lax.

"Nice to see you too." Mordred pushed the sword away from him, the prince was shocked making his grip slack. "I've got to heal him." He lent over the warlock, pushing his clothes aside to reveal his chest. Checking the wound in his abdomen. It had been hot enough to cauterize the wound closed so Merlin wasn't bleeding much luckily. He was sure that Emery's had just passed out from the pain.

The knights all watch avidly, hissing in sympathy when they saw the wound from Morgana's attack. It was an ugly looking burn that covered the majority of Merlin's side. They watched as the druid waved a hand over the chest, mumbling his eyes turned gold. The palm hovered just above the skin and made its way upwards.

The skin knit itself back together leaving behind fresh new flesh behind. Mordred slumped in exhaustion not able to go on. It had been a large wound, there was a little left above Merlin's heart but it wasn't much. He was out of danger now.

Merlin's eyes cracked open. Looking up he met the eyes of all the relieved looks of the knights and Arthur. Sitting up he felt at his chest in amazement to not feel a hole in his body. It had certainly felt like one had been ripped in his body at the time. "What? Mordred…" he noticed the druid's crouched form beside him, realizing what happened. "You healed me?"

"I couldn't let the great Emery's die." Mordred exclaimed out of breath. The wind was knocked out of him as the older boy wrapped him in his arms enthusiastically.

"Thank you." Merlin whispered into the boy's ear. "I'm sorry how I was acting." Mordred hugged back signalling he accepted the apology.

"What no hugs for us?" Gwaine jested anxiously.

Merlin leaned back and looked around at every one. When his eyes met Arthurs a large smile broke across his face. Before Arthur knew it he had his arms full of warlock. He hugged back tightly like he was afraid that Merlin would be taken away from him again. Tucking his face into the slender neck.

"Stupid armor." Merlin mumbled dissatisfied. He couldn't feel Arthur's body through the metal. He would just have to be content in the knowledge that Arthur was underneath it all.

He felt another set of arms wrap around him from behind. Then a few more joined in. They were in the middle of a giant group hug. Their group was whole once again.

"Enough." Arthur broke the moment knowing they did not have that much time to spare. "Now we can all go back to Camelot and everything can go back to normal."

"It is too dangerous now for the young warlock to return with you." Kilgharrah announced.

"What!" Gwaine yelled whipping around to glare at the beast.

"Uther now knows of the warlock's powers and he would have him killed as soon as he steps back into the kingdom." Kilgharrah pointed out. Rolling his eyes at their stupidity.

"Kilgharrah is right." Merlin deflated. He had just been reunited with all his friends and now he was unable to return with them.

The prince grabbed his manservant's shoulders to look him in the eye to see if he was serious about not going back to Camelot. Now that he got a good look Arthur noticed something. "Are you wearing make up?"

Flushing deeply. "That isn't the point right now." Merlin had forgotten in all the excitement how he was dressed up like a prize to be won. Crossing his arms self-consciously to cover his exposed chest. His friends were used to seeing him with his brown jacket and neckerchief.

"You should dress like that more often." Gwaine alluded with appreciation.

"I never want to go through getting dressed by someone else again." Merlin exclaimed with exasperation at just the thought. "At least I'll make a good impression to the druids."

"So you are leaving?" Percival asked with understanding.

Lancelot tried to calm Arthur down before he knocked Merlin over the head and dragged him back to Camelot unconscious.

While the knights were all talking amongst each other Merlin took the chance to lead the teen away from the groups hearing rang. "I need you to do something for me?"

"What?" Mordred asked with trepidation. He had a feeling it wasn't going to be a simple task.

"Mordred, I need you to go with them." Merlin asked, knowing it was a big favor. He spoke over the young druid before he could deny his request. "Uther never saw you performing magic so you could be safe."

Mordred's mouth dropped open in shock.

"I need you to take my place in Camelot protecting Arthur. Please." Merlin was practically pleading with the youth. "He's defenseless against any magic attacks." He held the boys broad shoulders and looked beseechingly into his eyes.

Mordred sighed in defeat when he was on the other end of Emrys puppy eyed look. He could see how the people of Camelot had never suspected him of magic all these years, even if he told it straight to their faces. Magic was supposed to be evil but Merlin looked so harmless like he couldn't hurt a fly. "But what about the druids?" Mordred asked in worry. They were such peaceful people. He was usually the one who protected the camp from bandits or passing knights or nobles.

"I'll look after them." Merlin volunteered. He planned to spend some time with the Druid camp anyway. He wanted to take this time to explore his magic which Aglain could help him with. He was going to use the next few years to explore his magic.

"You'd really allow me to do that?" Mordred asked surly crossing his arms. Emrys had seemed mistrustful of him in the past. He was placing the whole future of Camelot in his hands.

"I trust you now." Merlin had realized that the way he had been treating Mordred with suspicion had just been pushing the Druid to perform his destiny to kill Arthur Pendragon. Without Morgana's influence it hopefully won't come to fruition.

"I was wrong about you young druid." Kilgharrah lowered his head to the ground so that they could look each other in the eye. He had been listening in on the whole conversation. "You have managed to change your destiny and make your own fate." He could sense that a fork had been taken that day. Everyone was traveling down a different path now.

"Druids have always respected dragons as the most ancient and wise creatures, but even the wisest make mistakes." Mordred tilted his head to the ancient creature. "You are forgiven."

Kilgharrah nodded to the druid in thanks. Standing up to his full height he looked back towards Kelton. "Young warlock we must be going. Uther is on your trail already." He warned looking into the distance.

Arthur stalked over and grabbed Merlin's sleeve. "Don't go." He pleaded with desperation in his voice. Lancelot had been trying to convince him that he had to let Merlin go, just for a little while.

"You aren't king yet." Merlin cupped the prince's cheek. "Uther still makes all the laws."

"You can't leave." Arthur wanted to be selfish. He wanted Merlin back in Camelot with him.

"I have to." Merlin pried the prince's fingers from his clothes and held his hand to his chest. "Mordred has promised me to go back to Camelot with you. Unlike me he knows how to use a sword as well as magic. You need to knight him, he'll protect you from any magical threats."

"I don't know how I'll get on without you. You're my best friend." Arthur stated with his emotions on display for once.

"You'll probably be glad to have a vacation from me." Merlin stated to make light of the situation. They could now hear the clumping of the horses' hoofs now. "I have to go now." He exclaimed, looking at the distance at the approaching knights who were decked out in red.

Arthur tugged Merlin into his arms and held him tightly. He kissed his cheek, then again. Not knowing if they would ever see each other again he took the chance and took his manservant's lips in his. He could feel the shock of his actions.

"I'll come back when your king Arthur." Merlin gasped out once his lips were released. "Until then I'll just protect you from the shadows." He said looking into his best friends eyes.

Uther's knights were practically on top of them then. They had used up their allotted time.

After Merlin was released he dashed towards the dragon who lowered one wing so he could easily clamber up. "Till then!" Merlin said from the back of a dragon.

Their clothes rustled in the wind when the beast took off. Dust flew in the air so they had to cover their eyes. By the time they could see again. Merlin on the back of Kilgharrah became a small speck in the sky until they looked like a bird. Uncaged and free to fly once more.

…**TBC**


	8. Epilogue

Took me a while to finish this though I don't know why. Just want to wrap this story up.

* * *

**Bird In A Cage**

**o0o**

(Epilogue)

o0o

With heavy heads the Knights of the Round Table made their way back home to Camelot. Without Merlin returning with them it made it still felt like a defeat. They gained Mordred but he was a stranger and not a friend just yet.

The gate was lowered allowing them entry into the city. A lot of the citizens came to see them pass through the city street. They were too depressed to wave to the crowds. Word must have traveled fast because by the time they made it to the entrance to the castle there was a small greeting party waiting for them on the steps.

They could make out numerous familiar faces. Leon and Gwen were standing with their heads close together conversing. Not far away was Gaius. As Arthur eye's focused on the old physician, he could make out his disappointed expression that he didn't see Merlin return with them. Arthur felt like he had let the physician down.

A servant walked up to take his horse. Reluctantly the prince dismounted. He had half a mind to turn around and go back for Merlin. There was no way he would ever be able to find the druids though. It was already too late.

Not far behind them was the Camelot party. They hadn't even had a chance to vacate the courtyard before the king came riding in. Dismounting his horse without a word. Uther walked into the castle without saying anything to any of them.

Uther was still upset that the sorcerer managed to get away. All these years that boy had been living under his roof. Everyone received a glare for their part in hiding this fact from him. He stopped for a second to glare at Gaius. There was no way that the physician could miss the fact that his ward was a Sorcerer all these years. Uther decided he had to go to his chambers to cool down before he ended up sentencing half the court to death.

.0.

As soon as Arthur got back to his chambers he called a servant to run him a bath. Of course it had to be George who answered the call. He couldn't bare looking at the servant at the current moment of time since he resembled Merlin so much. Too bad not in the personality department.

When Arthur climbed into the tub he felt the water wasn't the temperature he was used to. Thinking about it now Arthur realized that Merlin must have been using magic to warm the water for his baths all these years. It had always been the perfect temperature. Even if Arthur was an hour later than he told Merlin he would be.

Soaking in the tub Arthur tried to let his worries fall away like he usually could. It was hard to believe that the last bath here had been prepared by Merlin. His life would never be the same after this point the prince thought. There would be no more bantering or teasing with his servant to look forward to. It was impossible for the prince to strike up a friendship with George.

Arthur blamed Merlin for imposing him with George for the next few years. He was sure that how much George resembled Merlin will grow to be a comfort in the future instead of off putting though. Out of the corner of his eye Arthur examined what about the servant was actually similar. It was the neckerchiefs he was sure.

Even when- not if- Merlin returned, he could never go back to just being the prince's servant. Now that his powers had come to be widely known Merlin held no place in the current royal court system. If Merlin returned before Arthur became king the only thing he would become was dead. The prince couldn't stand the thought of that happening so he knew that all Arthur could be is patient.

It wasn't until the water had grown cold did Arthur climb out of the tub. George immediately rushed over with a towel. Arthur had to snatch it from the servant's hands before he started to rub it against his naked skin. He missed the way that Merlin would hold out the towel with one hand while covering his eyes with the other.

While he dried off, George pick an outfit for him to change into. Arthur stood behind the changing screen and waited. When the clothes were draped over the edge they were very respectable choices. Arthur quickly put them on.

When the prince stepped out from the behind the screen George bowed deeply with a "Sir."

Arthur wanted to groan with exasperation, remembering how much of a stickler George was for titles. After the past couple years Arthur had gotten used to being addressed by his own name or a Prat. While in his own chambers the prince just wanted to be himself. "Don't call me sir, my name is Arthur."

"It wouldn't be proper, sir." George bowed even deeper if that was even possible. Arthur felt like he was talking to a stone wall. He wondered how many years it would take to break George down to a normal human being.

There was a sudden knock on the door. George immediately jumped to answer it. Another servant was there to inform the prince that the King wanted a word with him. With a deep breath Arthur tried to prepare himself for the argument ahead of him.

With trepidation Arthur knocked on the doors to his father' chambers. The knights guarding the door gave him looks of pity. They knew too what he was in for. There was a "Come in!" yelled through the door by Uther. Just by the tone Arthur knew this wasn't going to go well.

They had a long drawn out screaming match. Arthur was sure that every guard and passing servant had the pleasure of hearing them. In the end they agreed to disagree. It became a topic that they would never be acknowledge between them.

o0o

After being back a few days Arthur decided it was time he tried to get back to as normal a life as he could manage. He spent a few days moping in his room first of course. All the knights of the round table could be seen in similar states of brooding around the castle. They were usually such a rambunctious group but now they just sat around sulking.

When the knights gathered for a Round table meeting something was different. There was a heavy silence since no one knew what to say. Even though Merlin never technically had a seat, it felt like half the table was missing a very important member. Usually Merlin would be standing behind the prince but that spot stood empty.

"So what happened with that kiss?" Gwaine broke the silence, bringing up the topic everyone wanted to ask. He looked imploringly at the prince like he was waiting for an exciting story.

Arthur groaned with mortification at having that brought up. He hadn't been thinking about his audience at that moment in time. Arthur had been so emotional at the thought of Merlin leaving him, he had just let his true feelings get away from him. "It was nothing."

"That was not nothing, it was definitely something." Lancelot shook his head at the princes rebuff.

"Yeah, you basically mauled Merlin in from of everyone." Gwaine said to validate his point.

"My emotions got away from me for a second and Merlin hardly even returned it." Arthur continued to try and brush off his knights suspicions.

"Emrys, sorry, Merlin likes you that way." Mordred butted in. He was sure they had basically forgot he was there.

"How do you know that?" Gwaine asked curiously. He doubted Merlin confided his deepest secretes with the Druid in their short time in that sell.

"Truthfully while we were locked up together, I made a move and kissed Merlin." Before Mordred knew it the prince had tugged him out of his chair by grabbed him by the front of his tunic . "He turned me away though, I'm guessing because of you." Mordred quickly spoke so the prince wouldn't have the urge to beat him to a pulp.

"See you are jealous." Gwaine knew he had found his proof. "You consider Merlin to be your property."

"I do not!" Arthur dropped Mordred trying to gather his usual composure back.

"I've always thought of you two as a pair; Arthur and Merlin, Merlin and Arthur, master and servant." Gwaine spoke animatedly. He had always knew there was something more between them than just friendship.

"Stop that." Arthur glared at the knight as he started to suspect what they had been doing behind closed doors all these years. "Nothing of that persuasion has happened."

"Yet." Leon added on looking imploringly at his prince. "Even I could see that you care for Merlin as more than a friend. I've been suspicious of your feelings for months."

"He is right." Elyan nodded in agreement. "We are all your friends but you would never go as far for us as you would for Merlin."

"Merlin's my best friend, of course I would do anything for him." Arthur replied sitting back down in his chair.

"Denial." Gwaine coughed into his hand.

"For all rights and purposes, Merlin should only be another servant to you but he has managed to break through all the barriers of station." Lancelot exclaimed knowing he was right.

"Fine, I love the idiot, is that what you all want to hear." Arthur finally broke down under pressure.

"Finally." Gwaine started to clap with excitement.

"What good does finally admitting it now do me though." Arthur sigh depressed. "Merlin is gone and unlikely to return."

"You have to be patient." Lancelot tried to comfort the prince that it is never too late.

"You have to tell my sister about it." Elyan spoke up realizing everyone else was forgetting the fact that the Prince was technically dating his sister at this point in time. As her older brother he had to look out for Gwen. Even if nothing ever came from the kiss between master and servant; it needed to be out and the open. His sister could make her own decision if it was a deal breaker or not.

"I know." Arthur knew it hadn't just been a kiss of friendship. There had been much deeper feelings behind it. Pushing his chair back Arthur stood from the table. "I have to talk to Guinevere." Even though it had only been a short kiss, Arthur had never felt that amount of feeling from a kiss with Gwen. It made him think they weren't as right for each other after all.

o0o

After over a month things started to wind down. Everything was settling. His father had decided just to forget the whole incident ever happened. Forget the servant even existed to be honest. If someone brought up Merlin to Uther he would respond with "Who."

What Arthur could do now was start to prepare for Merlin's return. Thinking about it he knew who he needed to see first. Arthur knocked on the physician's door. He was called inside after he announced who he was.

"What is it my lord?" Gaius turned towards the prince , away from the herbs he had been preparing.

"I need your help with something." Closing the door Arthur locked it behind him. He couldn't risk anyone over hearing this conversation. Signalling with his hand he suggested the physician he should sit down. Gaius raised a confused eyebrow but did as he said. With a deep breath Arthur announced what his visit was for. "I want your help to start rewriting the laws on magic."

"There is only one law right now and it says- _Don't do magic_." Gaius explained the stretch of the corruption. There had been rules in place before the purge but the documents had been burned. "You would have to start from scratch. It would take years to cover everything."

"As long as my father has left to reign?" Arthur asked with a pointed look. "I know the king is past his prime, I am as well; I think it will be more than a few years before his time is up." Gaius warned the prince not to get ahead of himself. What he didn't mention is how he didn't think he would be around when Uther met his end. Time had been catching up with him for many years yet.

"That's fine. I don't intend to put them in place till I become king." Arthur knew there was no possible way he could insinuate his father to apply the new laws before then. He had no intention of starting a coop and taking the crown for himself before his father's death. It would be his turn to be king eventually.

Mordred emerged from Merlin's old bedroom. "I'll help."

0===):::::::::::::::.

(5 years later)

The bell rang announcing the king's death.

Uther had died a natural death at a ripe old age of seventy-three. There had been a flu going around the village for a while. Somehow Uther had managed to catch it without having left the castle. Sickness had no respect for station. Poor or rich, young or old; it would affect you. It was too late to cure Uther by the time Gaius had noticed the King had gotten the same sickness as the peasants. The king had been too proud to admit he was being taken down by a commoners sickness.

His heart had given out and Uther had passed away in his sleep. His manservant had come to wake him in the morning but had received no response. Thomas had called the court Physician immediately. Gaius had arrived with his new ward in tow, Mordred. After checking his pulse and finding none he announced the king's death.

It was his time to leave this earth and leave his kingdom in the hands of his son.

That day was the saddest and happiest of his life. Arthur had lost his father but he would be regaining his best friend. His father had not always been the warmest person.

0==):::::::::::::::.

The crown was placed on Arthur's head at his coronation. When he turned the whole crowd broke out into loud joyous cheers. There was no queen beside him like everyone had expected to happen.

All his friends were there to see Arthur finally crowned king. This should be the happiest day of his life but it didn't feel complete because someone was missing. He had always imagined Merlin would be at his coronation. The spot beside Gaius was empty. Arthur planned to change that fact as soon as possible.

The same day Arthur was crowned king he planned to lifted the ban on magic.

...

The citizens of Camelot cheered as Arthur stood on the Balcony. He had to make his first official address to his people after being crowned king. Taking a deep breath Arthur prepared himself for something he had been waiting for years to announce. He wondered how his people would take it.

"My father was a great king in some ways, in others he was seriously lacking.

I want to apologize to all the magic users. You were treated unfairly with suspicion and scorn.

I will be making magic legal again." The crowd gasped at the new king's announcement.

"Of course there will be guide lines put in place. Certain things will still be banned for good reason. Hopefully I'll have help writing the new laws." Arthur announced thinking of Merlin as he spoke.

When he came inside from the balcony after finishing his speech Gaius was crying. "I'm just so proud of you. I've been waiting to hear those words announced for the past 30 years." Arthur had celebrated his 30th birth only a month ago. It was hard to believe that it had taken his whole life so far to fix this mistake.

The crowd still continued to cheer loudly in support of their new king even after his announcement.

That night Arthur wrote a letter inviting the druids to a piece talk. He sent t with Mordred because he knew his messengers were very unlikely to find any camps. They still had a long way to go before there would be peace between normal men and magic users. He was sure there would still be small skirmishes while negotiations were underway.

A Merlin falcon flew from its perch on the battlement's to return back to his master.

(^v^)

A screech broke the silence of the forest.

Merlin looked up from his position by the fire pit. He stood up straight and offered his arm for the bird to land on. The claws dug into the leather that had been placed on his right arm for the bird to perch. He'd learned so much about what you could do with magic while spending time with the druids. One of them was having an animal familiar, he chose his name sake. "What have you found for me?"

His pet falcon nuzzled at his temple allowing images and words the bird had collected to transfer to his master's mind. A bright smile broke over Merlin's face as he realized what it meant. It was finally time to return.

Over the past few years, Merlin had never risked returning to what he still considered his home. He received messages from Mordred every once and a while about what had been happening. It didn't seem like enough though sometimes.

The past years had been torture to be separated from his friends. He'd made new ones but it wasn't the same. Merlin will be reunited with his golden prince, who would now be a shining king.

o=[]:::::::.

He had already been a king for almost a week and Merlin still hadn't shown up. Arthur was getting anxious that he would not come back at all. They were having a feast to celebrate one week of his rule. It should have been a joyous occasion but the new king just sat at the head table with a visible pout on his face.

"Cheer up." Lancelot nudged the king in his side. He wasn't setting a good example for his people when he was acting like a spoiled child who hadn't gotten his way. The king became grumpier with each passing day. He was also beginning to wonder what was taking Merlin so long to return but he wouldn't let on that he had any doubts. "Give him time."

"Where is he?" Arthur grumbled as he looked over the room full of people celebrating his new rule. The room might as well have been empty since the person he cared to see most was absent. He knew when he lifted the ban on magic Merlin wouldn't be instantly there. It would take a while for word to reach him Merlin the middle of the forest. He expected a day or two but this was getting idiotic. Arthur knew the warlock could instantly travel long distances by magic. He had the use of a fucking dragon too. "Seven days is too long." He complained slamming his cup down on the table.

"Calm down Princess, or should I say Queen now." Gwaine leaned around Percival who had been blocking his view of the king.

"Shut up Gwaine. I'm not in the mood for your antics rights now." Arthur snapped at his wits end. Maybe he would just drown his sorrow in his cups.

There was a lull in the music as everyone turned their attention towards the door. The guards were escorting a group into the room. People was straining to see the new quests. The crowd finally parted to show the approaching group. When he finally saw who was at the head of the group Arthur felt his heart skip a beat.

"See I told you Merlin was coming." Lancelot clapped the king in the back. He was so glad that Merlin finally arrived. He wasn't sure how much longer they could have put up with Arthur's dark mood.

Immediately Arthur pushed his chair back and walked around the head table. Before he knew it his feet had carried him to stand in front of his bed friend. Merlin looked different than he remembered him. There was no more neckerchief or scruffy clothes. He was dressed like you expected a leader of the druids to be attired. In a robe that brushed the ground in earth tones with longer hair.

Merlin smiled cheekily. "I told you I'd come back when you were king."

"I never doubted you." Arthur said through truly he had his worries. "What took you so long." A lot could have happened over the years they were apart. Mordred had tried to assure him that Emrys was safe with his people. It hadn't been Merlin's safety he'd been worried about though; he'd seen the power the scrawny servant held. It was if Merlin found someone he wanted more while he was gone.

"I just had to wrap some things up." Merlin replied as he looked adoringly at his new king. "Crown looks good on you." He commented sarcastically at the shiny accessory. It seemed right for the crown that once graced Uther's head to sit upon Arthur's brow. He'd been waiting for this sight for many years.

Arthur actually didn't find it comfortable. It felt too heavy and restricting on his head; like his new responsibilities. "I feel like my head is going to fall over from the weight. No wonder my father seldom wore it but for special occasions."

A small child ran over from the druid group and tugged on Merlin's robes. He picked the boy up and placed him on his hip comfortably like he did it all the time. "You've had a kid." Arthur stated with shock. Looking at the dark haired child who had a look of adoration for the warlock in his childish eyes.

"Oh, he isn't mine." Merlin shook his head adamantly, realized the assumption Arthur had made. He tried to squish the idea before it made a home in the blonde's mind. "He's Bayn and Kayna's. I'm uncle Merlin to him." The child giggled as the warlock bounced him on his hip. His friends had technically named their son after him since the boys name meant falcon which is what Merlin was named for.

"Oh." Arthur felt such a huge feeling of relief. He wasn't sure how he would continue living knowing Merlin had a wife and kid.

"I'm just going to bring Falco here back to his parents. Don't move." Merlin turned and walked back over to the druid group. They were still sticking close together, too nervous to break out from the group on their own.

Arthur decided he needed to do his sovereign duties. He walked over and started to talk with some of the druids. Seeing their king cross the line many of the nobles and knights followed his example.

When Merlin returned t the spot he left Arthur he found his king gone. It took him a minute to spot him communicating with some of the druids. While looking around the room Merlin spotted Lancelot and Gwen cozy in the corner. When he had been taken, Gwen and Arthur had still been together. This development confused him.

"What happened between you and Gwen?" Merlin couldn't help inquiring as soon as Arthur returned to him after finishing his discussion.

"Oh yeah, when we got back from the auction our relationship kind of fell apart. My heart wasn't in it anymore." Arthur didn't want to admit it was because he couldn't stop thinking about their kiss. "It took me months to convince Lancelot it was fine to asked Gwen out." Arthur smiled to himself. Things were awkward for a while after between the three of them. "Even though we couldn't be together anymore, I didn't want Gwen to be alone."

"I never wanted to admit this to you back then…" Merlin rubbed the back of his head. "I always thought Lancelot was a better match for Gwen than you." He avoided eye contact. "Lancelot was always pinning after Gwen from afar, but he was too noble to make his affections known once you took interest. "

"You and Lancelot know everything about each other, don't you?" Arthur narrowed his eyes. Lancelot was the only one besides Gaius and Hunith who knew about Merlin's magic all these years. Merlin knew about Lancelot's secrete feelings. Gwaine knew nothing surprisingly.

"We used to at least." Merlin shrugged at the fact. "It's been many years since then. I'm sure many things are different.

Not being able to hold off any longer Arthur pushed off the wall. "I have something I need to show you." He started to walk towards the door, with a furrowed brow Merlin followed him.

Mordred watched his king lead the warlock out of the hall to have a private moment. In his youth he'd had a crush on Emrys hoping one day he would be seen as more than just a young boy. In the years in Camelot he'd felt feelings for the prince too. He knew that neither of his crushes would ever come to fruition. They belonged together and he wouldn't stand in their way anymore.

The union of Emrys and the Once and Future King had been written for centuries.

0==):::::::::::::::.

Arthur led through the corridors till they reached a wooden door with a heavy lock. Arthur took a key off a chain he had been wearing around his neck for the past few years. Pushing open the door it revealed a set of spiraling stairs.

When Merlin got to the top his mouth dropped open when he saw the contents of the room. He didn't know where to look first.

"I had everything from the vaults brought up here for you." Arthur exclaimed from the door way. The past few years he had to do something to keep him busy. "Gaius helped me arrange everything."

Merlin ran his fingertips reverently over the wooden dragon carving that had been placed on a shelf. He could see that all his personal items had been moved up here. Gaius had cleared out the nook under the hidden floor board too.

Each item held so many memories.

Bookcases lined the walls with every magical text imaginable. At least one of every magical item that had survived the purge was collected here. Too busy taking in the other details of the room to dwell on it too much. He could imagine himself being so absorbed in work that he would fall asleep at the table.

It appeared that every item that had been locked away under the castle had been brought up here. Everything that used to be forbidden. There were enchanted objects, totems, sacred items. There was even a scrying bowl. There were things he recognized; Mage Stone, the Crystal of Neahtid, and the Cup of Life.

His spell book was placed on a stand open to one of the first spells he had ever learned. He ran his fingers reverently over the familiar words of the old religion. This room was perfect in every way. Having this room set up just for his use was such a touching gesture.

"I want you to be my Court Sorcerer." Arthur came right out and said it. He was almost afraid he would be turned down. After years of being away from each other, Merlin had made a place for himself amongst the druids. "If the druid village could spare you."

"Of course." Merlin reassured him with a cheeky grin. "They always knew I belong by your side."

o=[]::::::::.

They left the Court Sorcerers chambers behind them. They didn't speak till they reached his chambers. Merlin looked around the very familiar room. Not much had changed since he's left. "I'm surprised you haven't moved into the Kings rooms yet."

"I don't think I ever will?" Arthur shook his head. Those rooms held the ghost of his father. He would never feel comfortable sleeping in the past kings bed.

"Really. Don't you need the queen's chambers?" Merlin inquired as he fiddled with a goblet just for something to do with his hands.

Arthur tensed at the mention. "I'm not going to take a queen." He pushed off the door and stalked over to the warlock. With heated eyes he pinned Merlin in place. "Ever."

"You mean…" Merlin felt his heart soar at the meaning. The prince had kissed him after the sorcerer auction but he had never really knew what it meant. It was in the heat of the moment when he was leaving indefinitely. Knowing the duty of royals to carry the line he always assumed that Arthur would take a queen and he would be left pining.

"Was there…?" Arthur started to inquire, the warlock placed a finger to his lips to stop him from talking.

"There was only ever you." Merlin blushed as he spoke. Some of the other Druids had tried to catch his attention but no one had every succeeded. There had been courting gifts that he had turned them all down. None of them was his destiny, none of them was Arthur.

"Meaning your still a virgin?" Arthur caged the warlock between his arms. It shouldn't have pleased him so much but it did.

Merlin blushed deeply. It was true, he was pushing thirty and he had never done more than kissing and heavy petting. He'd always had so much to worry about in Camelot, when he was banished any chance that was offered he turned down because he felt like it would be a betrayal to Arthur.

Arthur tugged his best friend into his hold. Merlin seemed surprised when Arthur leaned in to kiss him. Their lips slotting together just resting against each other at first. It wasn't long though till their passion came out and they were crushing their lips together. Tugging the leather band that had been holding Merlin's hair back in a ponytail. He pinned him to the wall with his bulk. Fiddling with all the fastenings.

The kiss changed entirely when Merlin forced their lips harder together. With a flick of Arthurs tongue he asked for entry which was granted. He fought the urge to push Merlin back on the bed and straddle him.

Apparently the warlock didn't. The prince found himself on the mattress under Merlin's weight. He may be inexperienced but Merlin knew what he wanted. Claiming what had always been his and what always would be. Merlin was much quicker at undressing him because it had been his job for years.

The thought of having that power over Merlin after the display in the ring. It was hard to imagine so much from such an unassuming package. Arthur had never considered how it was a privilege before to have Merlin at his beck and call. Having thought of Merlin as well, an idiot. The weight of what he'd been taking for granted for so long was staggering.

They would spend their future together. Flying into the sunset.

o===[]:::::::::::::::::::.

THE END

o0o


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